I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah with family and friends. It seems a lot of families decided to celebrate the holidays here along the coast, as we’ve had a lot of visitors. Nice to see our restaurants doing such a strong business at this time of year. Some of those visitors picked up year-end real estate bargains, as we had a strong week, closing four sales and writing up three new contracts. No new listings, but we have five price mark-downs. Once again our inventory ratcheted downward a bit, shaving off another four to close the week at 278, with 82 homes and 196 lots listed for sale in the Cape San Blas, Indian Pass and C-30 Corridor market. Let’s take a look at what’s moving.
The first of our four sales is an oddly shaped lot on the Cape which looks more like a gerrymandered voting district than a residential lot. Very odd. The first photo shows the views from the front part of the property. The county has it assessed at $80,000. It sold in the summer of 2005 for $475,900, and then the current owners picked it up in December 2009 for $56,000. It went under contract this week with a list price of $99,900, and managed a whirlwind closing by Friday with $80,000 cash.
Our second sale takes us down to the south side of the Cape to Jubilation, where this bank-owned 46′ by 80′ gulf view lot went under contract two weeks ago with a list price of just $40,000, pretty close to the county’s assessed value of $45,000. This lot last sold at the peak of the market in September 2004 for $280,000, a far cry from the $33,500 it went for on Thursday.
Our third sale is this gorgeous 60′ wide gulf front lot on Sweetwater Drive at Money Bayou which went under contract on Thursday, Dec. 13 with a list price of $249,000, well above the county’s assessed value of $160,000. Ironically, this lot went under contract last Dec. 13 as well, but that obviously didn’t work out. The sellers have owned the property since mid-1999 when they bought it for $120,000, and first put it on the market in January 2008 with a $565,000 price tag. On Friday someone picked up a super sweet deal on this property for a very tasty $190,000.
Now out towards the point of the Indian Pass peninsula for our fourth and final sale, a 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, had it listed for $269,000, and on Friday turned over the keys at closing for $242,000. Not sure why the county has this one valued so low at $183,223.
The first of our three new contracts is a bank-owned home on White Sands Drive in San Blas Shores the oldest subdivision on the Cape located adjacent to the north side of Ovation. This is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,208 home was built in 1985, and has pleasant gulf views and a pool. It needs a little TLC at this point. The last time this one was on the market was in early 2005 when it sold for $680,000. Today the bank has it essentially right at the county’s assessed value of $195,700.
Things are hopping at Jubilation this week as we have another lot under contract there, this one listed as a short sale for $34,900, well below the county’s assessed value of $45,000. The list price is less than ten cents on the dollar for its 2005 sale price of $390,000.
Our fourth and final contract is out along the C-30 Corridor on Money Bayou. It’s 2-bedroom, 2-1/2-bath, 1,140 square foot gulf front townhouse at Cape Villas that went under contract as a short sale with a list price of $170,000. In mid-1998 it sold for $120,000, and those owners basically doubled their money in just four years, selling it in early 2002 for $230,014 to the current owners. They’ve had it on the market since the summer of ’05 when they initially listed it for $475,000. The county has it valued at $152,746 which is probably pretty close to what I imagine it will likely go for.
It’s been a tremendous year and I’ve met so many great new friends via this blog. I really appreciate your taking time out of your schedule to stop by and visit here, and I hope to meet many more of you in 2013. I love year end reviews and if you do, too, you’ll want to be sure to check back on Friday for my 2012 Year in Review to see just how 2012 stacked up against recent years, and if it tells us anything about what to expect in the new year. Have a great week, and, just gotta say it, see ya next year!