For as slow as March was, April has more than made up for it. Actually, for the first 4 months of 2010, Sanibel Island and Captiva Island have been busy. Sanibel Island has seen the inventory go down and the number of houses and condos sold and under contract go up! The prices, while still low, are holding a bit more than before. We have not started to see price increases and the number of price reductions has slowed. Below is a chart of the 2010 activity on both Sanibel Island and Captiva Island.
Activity - January - April 2010
Sanibel Island
Captiva Island
Houses
Active Listings
268
92
Under Contract
32
1
Closed
48
4
Condos
Active Listings
241
71
Under Contract
34
5
Closed
42
8
Vacant Land
Active Listings
119
15
Under Contract
2
1
Closed
8
1
Contact me if you would like additional information about what is going on in Sanibel Island and Captiva Island Real Estate.
My clients who are interested in Sanibel Island Houses for sale (vs. Sanibel Island Condos for sale) have asked me about the trend in prices and number of sales over the past 10 years. The findings are quite interesting.
As you can see from the statistics below - the average price rose right through 2006, however the number of homes sold actually started to decline in that year. Prices have continued to pull back and we are heading back to 2003-2004 levels.
In 2010 so far we are seeing a pace that matches or exceeds (we have 20+ houses under contract) last year's volume however the prices are lower. The upper end of the market is very weak and what is currently selling is our $500K - $800K properties. We expect that this will continue through 2010 and that recovery in the upper price range won't be seen until 2011 - but we'll see. If you would like more information about Sanibel Island real estate and Captiva Island real estate sales trends - drop me an email or call me.
Yes, there are short sale properties available on Sanibel Island.
There are currently 10 houses and 4 Condos that are Short Sales being actively marketed on Sanibel Island at this time. There may be more however these are the active one. There is one multi-family house and 9 single family houses ranging from $350,000 to $3,295,000.
There are 4 - short sale condos that are being actively marketed, all two bedroom, two bath units ranging from $219,000 to $744,900.
If you have been waiting for "a deal" on Sanibel Island, now may be your time to buy!
2009saw the available inventory drop which bodes well for the prices holding steady.At the end of 2008 we had over 300 homes and 300 Condos for sale on Sanibel Island alone.This year the inventory is as follows:
Current Inventory on Sanibel Island January 1, 2010:
Homes – 263 priced $239,000 to $13,500,000
Condos – 262 priced $194,000 to $3,365,000
Lots – 115 priced $195,000 to $5,250,000
Current Inventory on Captiva Island January 1, 2010:
Homes – 78 priced $879.000 to $18,000,000
Condos – 73 priced $280,000 to $3,875,000
Lots – 12 priced $775,000 to $8,500,000
From 1/1/2010 thru 1/15/2010 there have been 8 properties that have closed on Sanibel and there are 34 properties under contract on both islands. If you would like more information about the current state of Island real estate, email me.
Wow! Has it really been a month since I last posted a blog entry???!!
Well, let's start with a brief look back on the Sanibel Island and Captiva Island Real Estate activity in 2009.
A total of 281 properties sold on Sanibel and Captiva Islands in 2009.Sanibel saw the most activity with 143 Homes, 86 Condos and 11 Lots sold.Captiva continued it’s sluggish pace from 2008 with 16 Homes, 22 Condos and 3 Lots changing hands.
Prices continued to pull back in all segments on both islands in keeping with the economy in general.The good news is that the prices of homes and condos appear to have found a floor.
Property Sold On Sanibel Island in 2009:
Homes: Prices ranged from a low of $285,000 to a high of $3,900,000
Condos: Prices ranged from a low of $175,000 to a high of $3,200,000
Lots: Prices ranged from a low of $175,000 to a high of $750,000
Property Sold On Captiva Island in 2009:
Homes: Prices ranged from a low of $800,000 to a high of $7,250,000
Condos: Prices ranged from a low of $246,000 to a high of $2,175,000
Lots: Prices ranged from a low of $1,325,000 to a high of $2,900,000
If you would like more detail on these statistics, let me know. In my next post, I will take a look at 2010!
There are some interesting statistics about Lee County Florida real estate activity. The number of closed house sales, year-to-date, through 8/17/09 is 50% higher than the same period in 2008. There have been over 10,000 properties sold in Lee County thus far this year! Only 25% of these were traditional sales with over half being foreclosures and the rest being short sales
The number of closed condo sales in Lee County thus far in 2009 has also jumped 33% over 2008. That brings it to close to 2500 condos sold so far in 2009! Just about 1/3rd of these were foreclosed properties.
It is great that these foreclosed and short sale properties are moving off the market. The sooner this happens, the sooner the market will start returning to some sort of normalcy.
On Sanibel Island we have not seen the same type of activity. There are many fewer properties in general and many fewer foreclosed properties. We have actually seen a 21% decline in house sales and a 20% decline in condo sales in 2009 vs. 2008. Because the great deals are not there, we have not had the activity that Ft. Myers, Lehigh and Cape Coral have seen. Sanibel prices too, while they have pulled back, we haven't seen the severe drop in prices that other parts of Lee county have experienced.
The first quarter of 2009 was slow for Sanibel Island Real Estate Sales. A total of 34 homes and condos sold during this time on Sanibel Island. Otherwise known as not that many!
The second quarter of 2009 saw dramatic rise in sales as a total of 75 homes and condos were sold on Sanibel Island. Home sales continue to show strength in the first 1/2 of the 3rd quarter. If they stay on track, will match Q2's volume. Interest in condos appears to be declining for now. Some of this is likely due to the continued difficulty in financing condos. Many lenders are reluctant to finance investment condos or they require a larger deposit.
Wow! If it isn't tough enough these days to bring a buyer and seller of a great piece of Sanibel Island Real Estate together, the appraisal process these days isn't helping. As many know, the rules were changed a couple of months back prohibiting any possible interference in the appraisal process by Mortgage Banks and Realtors. The feeling was that part of the cause of our housing meltdown throughout the country was overly inflated appraisals that then allowed the banks to lend more money on a property than it was actually worth. The resulting rules have brought the Real Estate market, across the country, to a virtual standstill.
Here on Sanibel Island we have had numerous "appraisal incidents" that have grossly under valued properties, the most agregious being when a direct access canal home was compared (or comped) to a lake front inland property. This lack of understanding of the local real estate market has created a big headache for buyers, sellers, bankers and Realtors. Take a look at this USA Today article for a full accounting of the issues and the move to correct the situation.
On Tuesday night I moderated a meeting of interested Sanibel citizens about installing Solar Hot water heating systems on Sanibel homes, condos and commercial buildings. At this time there are a number of State and Federal incentives to assist with the payment of these systems. The State of Florida is offering a $500 rebate and the Federal Government is offering a 30% tax credit (not deduction) toward the expense of installing such a system.
Aaron Fields of Advance Solar in Ft. Myers presented a proposal that would install these systems for under $2000 after all the rebates and tax credits. The payback period for the investment is 2 to 4 years depending on your water use. After that, the hot water is free of energy expense! The intention of this initiative is to get as many buildings on Sanibel Island using the energy of the sun to heat their hot water.
Sanibel Island is the perfect place! From a personal perspective, I have a solar hot water system on my pool and it is great. Aaron will be visiting my home very soon to see if Solar Hot Water is in my future! If you call Aaron, reference the Sanibel Solar Initiative for all the details.
Hi - I would like to introduce you to a new section of my website - SanibelGreen. Having just received my National Association of Realtors (NAR) Green Designation, I wanted to share some of the extremely useful resources that were shared with me. What the site pages attempt to do is to be a source for the resources.
Most of Sanibel and Captiva Island homes and condos were built before any discussion of Green. That does not, by any means mean that they don't possess elements that conserve electricity and water - key elements of being Green. It also doesn't mean that there couldn't be cost effective modifications to the property that would make it less expensive to operate and be beneficial to the enviromnent.
I am by no means an expert on Green Building, I am however more aware of what makes a property more friendly to the environment and usually, less expensive to operate. I will be using this blog space and my other ways of reaching out to my colleagues and clients to bring greater awareness of things we can all do to conserve our resources.
If you while visiting the site have suggestions for additional resources, let me know. Over time, I will be adding sections and new links to bring even more helpful information on making your house or condo more Green! In the mean time - click on the Sanibel Green button on my home page or go directly to www.SanibelGreen.com!
The news through May of 2009 about real estate sales on Sanibel is mixed.
We are looking somewhat similar to last year in number of sales. This year so far, 48 homes have closed which averages roughly 10 per month or 120 for the year. In 2008, 146 house were sold so we are down in the house category. In the Condo category, thus far 48 condos have closed which averages roughly 10 or 120 for the year. In 2008, 95 condos sold so we are up in the Condo sales category. We have 30 homes and 24 condos that are under contract to close so things are definitely moving. We also have many people here looking so my belief is that things will continue to be busy for the next 6 weeks or so.
What is also true however, and good news for buyers, is that the average sales price of both homes and condos is off by about 15 - 20 percent. There continue to be some great values out there so what are you waiting for?
If you would like more detail on the current market and how this affects your Island real estate decisions to buy or sell, contact me. It's a sensational day in paradise.
