It’s Labor Day Weekend, the last hurrah of the busy tourist season here and by the looks of the parking lot at Scallop Cove this morning there are a lot of folks hoping to catch a few more rays and a few more fish and scallops before heading back to school for the year.
Snagging a piece of real estate doesn’t seem to have been on many minds, though, as our inventory is only down by one this week, stalled out at 449, with 178 homes and 271 lots listed in the MLS for Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and the C-30 Corridor. Luckily we had three closings, one new contract, eight new listings, fifteen price changes, and only six expired unsold. Let’s see who went to closing.
All three closings were homes, two townhouses on the Cape and one detached over in Money Bayou along the C-30 Corridor, which is where we’ll start today.
This should be fresh in your memory as we looked at it just recently on August 16 when it went under contract with a list price of $275,000. This is a 1,000 square foot, 2 bedroom plus a loft gulf view home which has been on the market a little over a year with an original price tage of $429,000. According to the tax rolls the sellers bought it in December 2002 for $175,000. So how did they do? They closed on Wednesday for $255,000, up about 46% in just 6 years, not a blazing annual return but profits are profits and any profit is better than a loss.
Next up is a gulf front townhouse at Cape Shoals which went under contract the last week of July with a list price of $309,900. The sellers paid $310,000 for it in June 2005 (regular readers of this column already know where this is headed just by seeing that date), bought new appliances for it in 2006, and closed this week for $287,500. Ouch. We’ve seen worse beatings this year but hopefully that’s enough to cover any notes which might exist.
Our third sale this week is, not surprisingly, yet another townhouse at Barrier Dunes, this one a 2-bedroom unit which the sellers bought in August 2004 for and even $300K. They first started trying to sell it in mid-2006 when they listed it for $379,000 and it’s been on and off the market ever since until finally ending up with a list price of $299,000. It closed on Friday for $265,000 with the buyer paying all closing costs.
Only one new contract this week and it’s on a 50′-wide gulf front lot located just south of Scallop Cove BP. It’s part of a replat of the original 100′ wide lot which the sellers bought back in 1996 for $85,000 so we know nobody’s losing any sleep over this deal. According to the MLS it’s supposed to close on September 12.
Among our eight new listings the one which catches my eye is this 77′ x 500’+/- gulf front lot in San Blas Plantation (right by our Boardwalk office) for only $530,000 which, at $6833 per waterfront foot, is slightly below the more typical average $8000 we’re seeing elsewhere for lots without major issues. This is an unusually deep gulf front lot in a subdivision bounded on either side by other nice subdivisions, Jubilation to the east and Piney Woods to the west. According to the MLS notes:
The beach is gorgeous and stable with rolling dunes yet great views from the buildable site. An X zone lot (no flood insurance required) and cleared. Priced to sell. Power and water on site, buyer could hook-up to the sewer lines.
In the interest of full disclosure, this particular property is listed by our company, Boardwalk Realty.
Now on to our fifteen price changes, again this week not all reductions; two are actually increases.
My pick of the week is this first tier gulf lot in the beautiful Jubilation subdivision which goes from $425,000 to $399,000. Look at that view, and it’s taken from ground level. With a bit of elevation the views from the house will be spectacular. Here’s details from the MLS:
DRAMATIC PRICE REDUCTION! Amazing 1ST TIER “X Flood Zone” lot in beautiful Jubilation subdivision. This lot is adjacent to the GULF FRONT clubhouse and pool and has the best beach access of all the lots in Jubilation. The views are panoramic and the private beach boardwalk is just a few steps away from Lot 10. Build your dream home on this great piece of property in the premier subdivision on Cape San Blas. Check out the pictures and virtual tour to see the great views. This price is a great deal…The seller paid $725K for this lot in 2005.
That wraps it up for this week. If you’re interested in selling or buying, give me a call toll free at 877-512-9366, ext. 109, or shoot me an email to [email protected] . Have a safe and fantastically fun Labor Day Weekend. Thanks for taking time to stop by.