Colorful Leaves, Temperatures Dropping, & Snow – NOT HERE!

 

Islander Realtors® usually can tell when the weather changes up north by an increase in the number of real estate inquiries. This week was no exception. Leaves must be turning, temperatures dropping, and/or snow falling somewhere as SanibelSusan Realty all-of-a-sudden had busy days both yesterday and today with buyer inquiries.

Island weather has been exceptional for the last few days too, mostly summer temperatures mid-80’s and sunny. Enough clouds sometimes for some beautiful Sanibel sunsets too!

The local Association of Realtors® again had no weekly caravan this week. Business activity has not picked up enough for that yet, but the caravan schedule will change back to weekly in early November.

Below are a couple of other news items followed the recent action posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service.

Upcoming Island Events

Sanibel Farmer Market – October 5 – Sunday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., every Sunday through April on the grounds of Sanibel City Hall. See you there!

U.S. Power Squadron Safe Boating Class – October 25 – Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Sanibel Public Library. More about the Sanibel-Captiva Power Squadron at www.usps.org/localusps/sancap/

Bailey Fest – October 26 – Sunday – from noon to 4 p.m. at Bailey’s Shopping Center featuring live entertainment, games, raffles, give-aways, face painting, pony rides, food & refreshments, local service organization info, & more. The opening singers again this year are with the Sanibel BIG ARTS Community Chorus.

Wine in the Wild – November 8 – Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. at SCCF, on the grounds of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Nature Center.

Beach Ball – November 16 – Sunday at The Dunes from 5 to 9 p.m. This is the ninth year for this Children’s Education Center of the Islands fundraiser for facility improvements and to benefit local families for scholarships.

Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida

Florida REALTORS® Research Division just released its 2014 Report (dated September 2014) showing the profile of International Home Buyers in Florida. For this report, foreign buyers are defined as non-resident foreigners – individuals who are citizens of another country and who purchase property in the U.S. but live in the U.S. only part of the year, typically using the property as a rental unit, vacation unit, or both. International sales are sales to these non-resident foreigners. Here are a few interesting excerpts from the report:

“Florida is one of the major U.S. destinations of international residential real estate buyers. Approximately 25% of foreign home buyers in the U.S. purchase property in Florida…Nationally, internationally home buying activity of non-resident foreigners was estimated at $46.7 billion during the period April 2013-March 2014…Florida’s sales to non-resident foreigners are estimated at $7.97 billion, accounting for 17% of total non-resident foreigner sales.

“The increase in international home buying activity was driven by the continued recovery of the world economy and the affordability of the U.S. properties. Both U.S. and Florida residential prices remain affordable to most international buyers. In fact, international clients continued to purchase properties that are on the average above the mean price paid by domestic buyers.

“Canadian buyers accounted for the largest share of international clients (32%), followed by buyers from Western Europe (24%; primarily from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany); buyers from Latin America/Caribbean (23%; primarily Brazil, and Venezuela), and buyers from Asia (10%p primarily from China).

“Florida’s location has been cited as the most important factor affecting the home purchase. Suburban areas appear to be gaining favorability with foreign buyers with an increasing share of buyers locating in suburban areas. Resort areas accounted for about a fourth of reported purchases, down from about a third in 2008.

“About half of foreign buyers in Florida bought a detached single-family home. Foreign buyers are more likely to purchase condominiums and townhouses/row houses since the owners are not staying at their property year-round….About 82% of Florida REALTORS® respondents reported all cash sales to foreign buyers….

“The top destinations for international homebuyers in Florida were Miami-Miami Beach, Orlando-Kissimmee, Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Naples-Marco Island, Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Tampa-St Petersburg-Clearwater, and Palm Beach.

In the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area, the origin of the reported international home buyers include:

Canada (45%), Germany (14%), United Kingdom (6%), Mexico (6%), Columbia (4%), Israel (4%), Norway (4%), and Switzerland (4%).

In the Naples-Marco Island area, the reported origins differ a little: Canada (55%), United Kingdom (7%), Germany (5%) and Russia (5%).”

The good news for SanibelSusan Sellers is that as a Realtor® with the TRC designation (Transnational Referral Certified), SanibelSusan listings are featured prominently on WordProperties.com which promotes and advertises properties through an international consortium of real estate associations and translates the listings into the languages of the member organizations. I am one of only ten Realtors®) on Sanibel/Captiva with this designation.

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service Activity September 27 – October 3

Sanibel

CONDOS

No new listings.

1 price change: Sundial D307 1/1 now $239K.

2 new sales: Coquina Beach #4F 2/2 listed for $429.9K, Sanibel Inn #3425 2/2 listed for $664.9K.

1 closed sale: Compass Point #112 2/2 $1.11M.

HOMES

5 new listings: 1238 Par View Dr 3/3 $799K, 566 N Yachtsman Dr 3/2 $989K, 5427 Osprey Ct 3/3.5 $1.2472M, 2400 Los Colony Rd 3/3 $1.595M, 3911 West Gulf Dr 5/5.5 $5.295M.

No price changes.

2 new sales: 1777 Serenity Ln 5/4.5 listed for $759K, 800 Birdie View Pt 3/3.5 listed for $1.099M.

5 closed sales: 667 Nerita St 3/2 $719K, 529 Lighthouse Way 3/3 $965K, 785 Birdie View Pt 3/2.5 $1M, 766 Sand Dollar Dr 4/5.5 $1.312M, 1307 Seaspray Ln 4/3.5 $1.6M.

LOTS

1 new listing: 201 Robinwood Cir $759K.

No price changes.

2 new sales: 223 Robinwood Cir listed for $195K, 1246 Sand Castle Rd listed for $225K.

No closed sales.

Captiva

CONDOS

1 new listing: Sunset Beach Villas #2417 1/1 $525K.

No price changes, new or closed sales.

HOMES

2 new listings: 16861 Captiva Dr 5/5 $1.99M, 17101 Captiva Dr 6/7.5 $3.198M.

No price changes, new or closed sales.

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.

Until next Friday, happy weekend to all!

Susan