Islanders enjoyed a little Sanibel winter weather this week, with temps down into the 40’s/50’s at night and a couple of days in the high 60’s/low 70’s. It’s expected to be back up into the low 80’s by Wednesday. Here are a few photos that Dave and Lisa took yesterday while they were out previewing property on Realtor® Caravan, but first here’s the vehicle that just went by SanibelSusan Realty Associates. Is it a car? Is it a plane? It’s been making the rounds in Southwest Florida. Check it out on http://PlaneDriven.com

PlaneDriven.com Heading down Periwinkle Way on Sanibel 02-01-2013

View from Tarpon Bay Explorers, Sanibel Island 01-31-2013

From Mariner Pointe looking toward the Sanibel Marina 01-31-2013

A pair of bald eagles, 01-31-2013

Florida Realtors® Mid-Winter Business Meetings

Each January, a lot gets accomplished in just a few days at the Florida Realtors® Mid-Winter Business Meetings in Orlando. This year was no exception.

Last Friday, I attended the Faculty Development Subcommittee meeting where I am a member, the Global Business Committee, and the Legislative and Political Forum. At this last event, Robin Smith-Wescott, Esq., who is the state Insurance Consumer Advocate (http://www.radeylaw.com/insurance-list/interview-robin-smith-westcott-floridas-new-insurance-consumer-advocate/) updated us on recent insurance reform, including Wind Insurance changes. Regarding the National Flood Insurance Program, it was a bit disheartening to hear that Florida continues to provide 30% of the funding for this program, but receives only 13% in benefit. Florida Realtors® continue to pressure for more reform here.

Pam Blondi, Florida’s Attorney General, (http://myfloridalegal.com) also spoke on the status of several state issues including foreclosure fraud and short sale management issues, and the monies Florida has available for foreclosure settlements. Her office handles a wide mix of problems including drugs and human trafficking, which she unfortunately mentioned are both on the rise.

Association Executive, Peggy Hummel, & President-Elect, David Schuldenfrei with some of the Sanibel/Captiva trophy collection 01-25-2013

On Friday night at the RPAC Jamboree, several Florida Realtor® organizations received recognition for their political action support. The Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association came home with three of the four major awards for “small boards” – quite an accomplishment for our little group and indicative of our active membership and their concern, contributions, and work in recent legislative and regulatory successes including the continued preservation of the mortgage interest deduction, tax relief benefiting the real estate industry, improving federal mortgage programs, and eliminating regulations that inhibit environmental quality and healthy real estate markets.

On Saturday, at the Professional Standards Forum, I received a script that will be presented later this year at an educational event locally. Later at the Resort and Second Home Forum Meeting, as members shared reports of the market in their area, it was good to hear that most Florida resort communities are rebounding. Interestingly, NAR (National Association of Realtors®) statistics now say that 60% of resort and second-home buyers are international. The East Coast associations, particularly Miami, advise that the percentage may be even higher there.

With only 1,700 Realtors® holding the RSPS (Resort & 2nd-Home Property Specialist) designation nationally, it is a tight group but with expansive networking opportunities. I received several new referrals while in Orlando and came back with more info to include in the Sanibel/Captiva designation RSPS class that I will teach for the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® later this spring.

Showing Activity & Thursday Realtor® Caravan

I was out showing property three days this week and so far have one finalized contract to show for it. Dave and Lisa were out showing yesterday. I will be out with folks tomorrow morning and another couple in the afternoon. Many colleagues are out showing too. We are hopeful that the next few weeks will be productive.

With only three new properties on Realtor caravan yesterday, the tide is changing. More new listings are needed to keep up with the current demand.

What’s The Best Season for Home Buying?

An article posted on line at Florida Realtors® today, credits InformationInc and Trulia “Housing Wire”. It confirms that if true to history, February will most likely be busy with Florida sales.

“After the holidays, buyers tend to get more aggressive with their house hunting. Search activity usually peaks around March or April in most states, according to a new study of home searches from 2007 to 2012 conducted by Trulia. In September, searches slow down. By December, buyer searches ebb to their lowest point of the year. “Home-search activity swings with the seasons in every state,” says Jed Kolko, chief economist of Trulia. “Buyers and sellers can use these ups and downs to their advantage. Sellers looking for the most buyers should list when real estate search traffic peaks. Buyers, however, should think about searching off-season, when there is less competition from other searchers.”

“Here are the months when online real estate searches peak in every U.S. state:
January: Hawaii
February: Florida
March: Arizona, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington
April: Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin
May: Real estate activity does not peak in any state
June: Mississippi
July: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming
August: Montana and Oregon
September-December: Real estate activity does not peak in any state.”

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Activity January 25 – February 1

Sanibel
CONDOS
5 new listings: Captains Walk #B5 2/1 $329K, Surfside 12 #A1 3/2 $695K, Sundial #L304 2/2 $1.049M, Compass Point #183 2/2 $1.095M, Tamarind #A101 2/2 $1.595M.
6 price changes: Sanibel Siesta #210 2/2 now $439K, Mariner Pointe #1052 2/2 now $449K, Sundial #G401 2/2 now $479K, Shell Island Beach Club #5B 2/2 now $689K, Sundial #K203 2/2 now $744.9K, Snug Harbor #121 3/2 now $997.5K.
2 new sales: Loggerhead Cay #261 2/2 listed for $549K, Sanctuary Golf Villages I #6-3 3/3 listed for $740K.
1 closed sale: Tennisplace #C35 2/1.5 $232.5K.

HOMES
7 new listings: 1625 Serenity Ln 3/2 $499K, 9228 Belding Dr 2/2.5 $550K, 600 East Rocks Dr 3/2 $579K, 1481 Sand Castle Rd 2/2 $595K, 1300 Par View Dr 3/2 $839K, 5418 Osprey Ct 4/3.5 $999K, 200 Robinwood Cir 3/3.5 $1.268M.
4 price changes: 9446 Yucca Ct 3/2 now $529K; 564 Hideaway Ct 3/2 now $599,555; 1777 Serenity Ln 5/4.5 now $799K.
3 new sales: 1809 Bowman’s Beach Rd 3/2 listed for $499K, 1660 Bunting Ln 4/3.5 listed for $945K (our buyer), 5035 Joewood Dr 4/4.5 listed for $3.595M.
1 closed sale: 544 Sea Oats Dr 4/4 $820K.

LOTS
3 new listings: 223 Robinwood Cir $287K, 5648 Baltusrol Ct $289K, 2323 Starfish Ln $549K.
No price changes, new or closed sales.

Captiva
CONDOS
2 new listings: Tennis Villas #3111 1/1 $267.5K, Lands End Village #1609 2/2 $1.295M.
3 price changes: Bayside Villas #4204 1/2 now $259K, Bayside Villas #5344 3/3 now $645K, Beach Villas #2533 2/2 now $699K.
No new sales.
2 closed sales: Marina Villas #603 2/2 $475K, Ventura Captiva #2A 3/3 $650K.

HOMES
1 new listing: 11526 Laika Ln 4/4 duplex $1.8M.
2 price changes: 15631 Captiva Dr 5/4.5 now $2.495M, 16428 Captiva Dr 7/8/2 now $12.4M.
No new sales.
1 closed sale: 16742 Captiva Dr 3/3 $2.45M.

LOTS
Nothing to report.

This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors or its Multiple Listing Service. Neither the association nor its MLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the association or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. The information provided represents the general real estate activity in the community and does not imply that SanibelSusan Realty Associates is participating or participated in these transactions. If your property currently is listed with another broker, this is not intended as a solicitation of that listing.