SanibelSusan has been busy with a little R&R, while the team has been covering business as usual. Below are some news articles and local info, followed by the activity posted in the Sanibel and Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service over the 2-week period ending on Friday. Sorry for the delay in posting!

Sanibel Catering Company

Bailey’s General Store formally expanded into catering with the opening of Sanibel Catering Company (by Bailey’s). Sanibel Catering Co. is a direct tribute to the Sanibel Packing Co., the firm started by Frank Bailey in the late 19th century along San Carlos Bay. Sanibel Packing Co. evolved into Bailey’s General Store which moved to its current location in the 60’s. Two of Frank Bailey’s three sons ran the general store and surrounding shopping center until Francis Bailey died last year. His brother Sam died in 2010. Today Francis’s son-in-law, Richard Johnson is at the helm.

This news follows other growth for Bailey’s, a retail outlet at The Sundial Beach Resort and Spa. The new Sundial store will be a 1,000 sq.ft. space, selling sandwiches, salads, deli food, and more. The new Bailey’s Market Place is part of the renovation and expansion at Sundial. It will open in a few weeks.

QRM Rule Opens More Doors for Consumers

Good news posted in “DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS”:

“The mortgage-financing environment for households could improve as a result of a rule federal regulators put in place Tuesday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is the first of six financial regulators to release the final version of the long-awaited qualified residential mortgage (QRM) rule, which stems from the big 2010 banking reform bill the federal government enacted after the financial crisis.

“The QRM rule provides a set of requirements a loan must meet to be considered safe and eligible to be sold to investors as part of a mortgage-backed security without the lender having to retain 5% of the loan amount on its books. Because the QRM loan comes without the risk-retention requirement, lenders should be able to make more loans — and for cheaper — because they don’t have to pass along that risk-retention cost to borrowers.

“The National Association of REALTORS® has been vocal for several years about the QRM rule, saying it should be broad rather than prescriptive and that it should match up with the qualified mortgage (QM) rule, which took effect at the beginning of this year. The QRM rule does, in fact, do that. The QM rule provides ability-to-repay standards for safe and affordable loans, whether or not they’re securitized for sale to investors.

“”NAR applauds the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for finalizing the Qualified Residential Mortgage rule today, which includes a broad definition of QRM and aligns with the Qualified Mortgage standard implemented earlier this year,” NAR President Steve Brown says.

“Under the QRM rule, as under the QM rule, loans are generally considered qualified if the borrower’s debt-to-income ratio is 43%, among other things. There is no onerous down payment requirement, as regulators had originally proposed. “Importantly, the final rule relies on sound and responsible underwriting rather than on an onerous down payment requirement to qualify as a QRM loan,” Brown says. “NAR strongly opposed earlier versions of the rule that included 20 and 30% down payment requirements, which would have denied millions of Americans access to the lowest-cost and safest mortgages.”

“The rule takes effect in 12 months. That will give lenders time to align their internal processing systems with the requirements. Since lenders have already been aligning their systems to the QM rule, the process can be expected to go smoothly.

“For lenders, having the two rules in alignment provides the clarity they’ve long been asking for. One result of this new clarity could be a widening and deepening of loan availability, which has been one of the main stumbling blocks to increased home sales. At a press conference Tuesday, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the alignment of the two rules could help make credit more available and boost sales. “Certainly this is a victory for consumers,” Yun says.

Increased Traffic at RSW

“The Island Sun” reported that during September, 366,038 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport, an increase of 8.2% compared to September 2013. Year-to-date, passenger traffic is up 4.3% from the same period last year. The traffic leader in September was Delta with 81,989 passengers traveling to and from Fort Myers. Southwest Florida International Airport served more than 7.6 million passengers in 2013 and is one of the top 50 U.S. airports for passenger traffic.

Waterside Inn Sold

Also reported by “The Island Sun”, Waterside Inn, Sanibel’s second largest family-owned beach resort, sold on October 24 for $10,000,000 according to Lee County records. Bert and Joanie Jenks have owned the property for the past 16 years. The buyers, from Indiana, plan to retain Waterside Inn’s employees and operate the resort in the same fashion as the Jenks family. The property, located at 3033 West Gulf Drive and formerly known as the Snook Motel, has 27 gulf-front tropical cottages and hotel efficiencies.

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service Activity October 24-31

Sanibel
CONDOS
1 new listing: Seascape #205 3/3 $1.849M.
1 price change: Seashells #36 2/2 now $335K.
7 new sales: Seashells #33 2/2 listed for $299K (short sale), Seashells #38 2/2 listed for $299K, Sundial #I103 1/1 listed for $337.5K, Sundial #I203 1/1 listed for $395K, Pointe Santo #B45 2/2 listed for $749K, Sandalfoot #5A3 2/2 listed for $849K, Plantation Village #B321 3/3 listed for $2.299M.
5 closed sales: Coquina Beach #4F 2/2 $400K, Loggerhead Cay #451 2/2 $450K, Sanibel Arms #C4 2/2 $485K, Pointe Santo #E22 2/2 $688.5K, Pointe Santo #D45 2/2 $750K (our listing).

HOMES
3 new listings: 1671 Hibiscus Dr 4/5 $998,899; 1339 Par View Dr 3/2.5 $999.9K; 1138 Harbour Cottage Ct 3/2.5 $1.385M.
4 price changes: 547 Chert Ct 3/2.5 $695K, 430 Surf Sound Ct 3/2 now $805K, 1748 Jewel Box Dr 4/4 now $1.148M, 2118 Starfish Ln 4/5 now $1.859M.
4 new sales: 3990 Coquina Dr 3/2 listed for $599.9K, 1238 Par View Dr 3/3 listed for $799K, 800 Birdie View Pt 3/3.5 listed for $1.099M, 2964 Wulfert Rd 5/5.5 listed for $1.947M (short sale).
1 closed sale: 940 Lindgren Blvd 3/2 $885K.

LOTS
1 new listing: 5706 SanibelCaptiva Rd $479K.
No price changes.
1 new sale: 1182 Sand Castle Rd listed for $199.9K.
1 closed sale: 1402 Middle Gulf Dr $250K.

Captiva
CONDOS
No new listings or price changes.
1 new sale: Sunset Beach Villas #2218 2/2 listed for $575K.
No closed sales.

HOMES
No new listings.
1 price change: 16910 Captiva Dr 4/4 now $4.735M.
No 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.

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service Activity October 17-24

Sanibel
CONDOS
4 new listings: Seashells #38 2/2 $299K, Sundial #Q205 3/2 $850K, Sanddollar #B204 2/2 $920K, Sanddollar #A203 3/2 $1.015M.
3 price changes: Colonnades #44 1/1 now $197K, Seashells #33 2/2 now $299K, Kings Crown #307 3/2 now $899K.
1 new sale: Sandalfoot #4D2 2/2 listed for $619K (our buyer).
No closed sales.

HOMES
2 new listings: 3716 Coquina Dr 3/2 $489K, 1644 Bunting Ln 3/3 $495K.
3 price changes: 8987 Mockingbird Dr 3/3 now $799K, 600 N Yachtsman Dr 3/2.5 now $1.195M, 1520 San Carlos Bay Dr 4/3.5 now $1.995M.
4 new sales: 2621 SanibelCaptiva Rd 3/2 listed for $299K, 4606 Brainard Bayou Rd 2/1 listed for $399K, 3251 Twin Lakes Ln 3/2 listed for $629K, 1426 Causey Ct 3/2 listed for $729K.
2 closed sales: 1221 Par View Dr 3/2 $700K, 1021 Fish Crow Rd 4/3 $700K.

LOTS
No new listings.
1 price change: Bowman’s Beach Rd now $179K.
No new or closed sales.

Captiva
CONDOS
1 new listing: Beach Villas #2322 1/1 $589K.
1 price changes: Lands End Village #1610 3/3 now $1.875M.
No new or closed sales.

HOMES
Nothing to report.

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.