Cool wintery weather arrived in time for Christmas this week, but our sales stayed summer sizzling hot with lots of activity. We closed five sales, wrote up four new contracts, added three new listings, and changed prices on eight others. With all that, our inventory took a nice little dip, shedding another five to close at 282, with 85 houses and 197 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass, and C-30 Corridor market. Let's see what buyers were wrapping up in time for Christmas.
The first of our five sales is an absolutely lovely bay front home in Paradise Bay located near Cape Palms Park. Situated on a 100′ wide span of waterfront on St. Joe Bay, complete with dock, this spacious 3,022 square foot, 4-bedroom, 3-bath beauty was listed for $585,000. It features rich juniper walls and gleaming pine floors throughout, and is tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac. I helped these sellers buy the lot in late 1996 for $55,000, and they built the custom home in 2004; on Friday they passed the keys to the lucky new owners for $510,000.
Our second sale takes us just a short distance down the road to San Dunes, a small quaint neighborhood on the Cape about three miles south of the state park. This is a bank-owned gulf front house which was foreclosed on before construction was completed, so it’s a work in progress, with one estimate on the cost to finish it being $125,000. The bank had it priced at $469,000, significantly above the county’s assessed value of $391,473, and on Thursday they sold it for $375,000.
We’ll head a few blocks further south down Cape San Blas Road for our next sale, a house in the Seagrass subdivision, a 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 2,094 square-foot gulf view home with an interesting sales history. In August 2005 it sold for $980,000, and then just five years later in March 2010 it sold again for $390,000. In late October it went under contract with a list price of $529,000, and on Tuesday the bank let it go for $512,000. This is a lovely home with terrific water views and the county’s assessment of $303,118 is just way too low.
Our fourth sale is a bank-owned first tier lot over in Gulf Pines located out along the C-30 Corridor. This quarter-acre lot sold in February 2005 for $435,000. The first tier lots in Gulf Pines have terrific water views and FEMA flood insurance eligibility so I think the county has this one also assessed too low at $60,000. In late October it went under contract with a list price of $90,000, and this week it sold for $78,500.
For our fifth and final sale we’re going over to the Indian Pass peninsula to a unique property, a 5-bedroom, 3-bath, 4,550 square foot home situated on a 3.5 acre lot which spans from the lagoon front to the gulf. This home, built in 1988, has been on the market since the summer of 2008 when it was listed for $5M. Fast forward four years and that list price ended up at just $499,000, (well below the county’s assessed value of $668,010), and on Wednesday they closed for a stunningly low $400,000. The family purchased the home in late 1992 for $475,000, the equivalent of $783,147 today in inflation-adjusted dollars; that’s a pretty sobering thought.
The first of our four new contracts is on a bank-owned first tier lot in Seagrass listed for $77,000, well below the county's assessed value of $105,000. That's a long way away from its previous sales, when it sold in January of 2004 for $225,000, and then again 15 months later in March 2005 for a whopping $625,000. This is a 121' by 90' quarter-acre lot in an “X” flood zone.
About a half mile down the road our second contract was written on this 3-bedroom, 4-bath, 1,904 square foot bay front home situated on a bay lot with 103' of waterfront. Built in 1975, it is grandfathered in for FEMA flood insurance coverage. The sellers bought it in 1997 for $110,000, and this week it went under contract with a list price of $299,000.
We're heading back over to Indian Pass for our next two contracts, stopping first at this beautiful 100' wide, 3.75 acre lagoon front to gulf front lot listed for $325,000, well below the county's assessment of $465,000. The property has been on the family for some time, so no meaningful sales history on file.
Now out towards the point of the Indian Pass peninsula for our fourth contract which is on this 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 1,536 square foot gulf front home which is one half of a duplex. The sellers bought it in mid-2003 for $325,000, and now have it listed for $269,000. Not sure why the county has this one valued so low at $183,223.
I hope you have a wonderful week of celebration with family and friends. My husband and I are staying here at the Cape for Christmas so if you’re in the area over the holidays I hope you’ll stop by and say hello. My office is at 1252 Cape San Blas Road and my number is 850-227-5197. Merry Christmas, and let’s meet here again next Saturday.
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