SusanSusan here reporting another beautiful Friday on sunny Sanibel with unusually warm summer-like weather most of the week. A cool front (or what the weathermen call a cool front) arrived last night so the weather today – and for the weekend – is expected to be breezy, a little cloudy, and only in the mid-70’s. Back to sunshine and higher 70’s by early next week. Either way, perfect for snowbirds, visitors, vacationers, and locals.

Traffic this week is better too. The 80^th Sanibel Shell Fair and Show which started yesterday and runs through tomorrow at the newly-renovated Community House is expecting record crowds. But, cars are moving nicely along Periwinkle and in front of Sanibel Square thanks to the additional police aides directing traffic at the crosswalks.

Show award winners received their ribbons Wednesday night. Congratulations to friends Heather O’Keefe, Mindy Pierce, and Dianne Reich whose works all received ribbons.

Heather also has been at the Show’s Author’s Table today to autograph her new book, “American Shell Craft” with vintage hand-crafted seashell jewelry made from 1930-1970. The show is open until 4 p.m. today and again tomorrow Sat from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you don’t get to the Fair and want a copy of Heather’s book, it is at Sanibel shops: McIntosh Books and Three Crafty Ladies.

 

 

Thursday Realtor® Caravan

The Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® weekly morning meeting was well attended yesterday followed by an east-end caravan. I was the only Realtor® who announced “three” sales, though several others were announced. A report of the Multiple Listing Service activity since last Friday follows a few news items below.

“Working Together to Make a Difference” – As Communications and Public Relations Committee Chair, I also was happy to report that our February progress report press release in our 2017 “Working Together to Make a Difference” campaign has been submitted to local publications. It is already posted on the “Santiva-Chronicle” on line.

Two Everglades Restoration Projects – Also announced was a new recently-released study by Clemson University for the Everglades Foundation. It covers the Benefit & Benefit/Cost Calculations for Two Everglades Restoration Projects.  One, called the South Reservoir is south of Lake Okeechobee and would provide storage when the lake is too full. The other, called the North Reservoir, would be storage north of Lake O to capture water before it enters the lake. A purpose of the reservoirs is to mitigate the discharge of excess water from the lake into the St Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers where it damages estuaries and negatively affects water quality.

A FloridaRealtors® study funded by RPAC dollars is referenced in the study. If you are interested in what the study says about how these reservoirs could affect your property values, click on the blue link above. With several bills related to water quality on the state legislature’s docket, you can be sure that local Realtors® are staying attuned to them. Over the next few weeks, there likely will be “Calls for Action”. I will be asking you to join in them.

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Real Estate “Season” Update

Now that the first two months of the year have flown by, it is a good time to see how the 2017 island real estate market is shaping up. Here is a summary of the statistics:

Available Today             Under Contract Today    Sold & Closed in 2017

No.        Average Price   No.      Average Price       No.     Average Price

Sanibel Condos          111             774,375            21             791,471                 19              821,921

Captiva Condos           30          1,198,683             3              427,667                 6               492,167

Sanibel Homes          196          1,535,822            37          1,156,577                34                941,162

Captiva Homes             33         3,063,936             9          3,420,000                 3             1,800,000

Sanibel Lots                  66            495,258              7              340,129                  7                419,617

Captiva Lots                    1             950,000            2           2,547,500                 0              N/A

Comparing current inventory to this “high season” rate of sales, there is just about a year’s worth of Sanibel inventory for homes and condos, and more than 16 months of vacant land inventory. That is a lot of inventory going into March, since sales usually slow down considerably after Easter.

On Captiva, there are 10 months of condos and almost two years of home inventory.

So, what is selling on Sanibel? Of the 19 condo sales:

• Six are large units 2-bedrooms with den or bigger, or gulf-front, but with weekly rentals allowed – Average price = $973,200.
• Five are 2-bedroom income-producers – Average price = $536,600.
• Three are gulf-front residential condos – Average price = $1,246,667.
• Two are condos with boat dockage – Average price = $569,000.
• Two are condos at The Sanctuary golf community – Average price $602,500
• One is a gulf-view residential condo – Price $592,000.

Of the 34 Sanibel home sales:

• Ten are near-beach – Average price = $853,200.
• Nine are canal-front – Average price = $1,252,111.
• Seven are inland – Average price = $565,643.
• Five are in golf communities (four in The Dunes, one in The Sanctuary) – Average price = $660,000.
• One gulf-front – Price $2,400,000.
• One bay-front – Price $1,700,000.
• One on bayou – Price $830,000.

Of the seven Sanibel lot sales:

• Three are on golf course (Two in The Sanctuary, one in Beachview Estates) – Average price = $263,333.
• Two are near-beach – Average price = $395,000.
• One is on deep-water-access canal – Price $1,050,000.
• One on bayou – Price $307,318.

Twenty Sanibel price reductions were announced this week. March is when sellers with time constraints, should re-evaluate to ensure that their property is positioned to sell when they want. We know that it only takes one serious buyer to make a sale, but with just a few weeks of “high season” left, the pool of potential buyers will be diminishing soon.

Sanibel Designated 7th Safest City in Florida

As reported on line yesterday at “Island Reporter”, “Captiva Current”, “Sanibel-Captiva Islander”:

“The City of Sanibel has been designated as the seventh safest city in Florida based upon a report “Safest Cities in Florida” released by the National Council for Home Safety and Security. There are 410 municipalities in Florida.

“Upon reading the report, Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane stated, “Our community places the highest priority on the personal safety of our citizens. We consider community safety an investment not an expenditure; an investment in our daily quality of life as well as our property values.”

“The methodology utilized by the National Council for determining the designations included a review of the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report (U.C.R.), as well as population and other data. The study did not include any cities that failed to submit an FBI U.C.R. report, or cities with populations less than 5,000 persons.

“The remaining cities were ranked based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) per 100,000 people. These variables were then weighted with violent crimes accounting for 70% of the total (due to their severity) and property crimes accounting for 30%.

“In 2016, the City of Sanibel experienced a 6% reduction, from 112 in 2015 to 105 in 2016, within the federally reportable crimes. The City of Sanibel’s 2016 UCR of 105 crimes is the lowest recorded in the last 13 years.

“In 2016 there were 43 reported burglaries, 41 reported theft, 15 reported assaults, two reported vehicle thefts and four classified as other. The year prior, the federally reportable crimes included 24 burglary, 56 thefts, 27 assaults, three vehicle thefts and two rapes.

“”Our greatest asset to maintaining a safe community is a diligent, alert population committed to working in partnership with the police. We always urge our residents and visitors to report any type of suspicious behavior or activity. We always prefer to be in the crime prevention rather than response mode,” Chief of Police William Dalton said.”

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service Activity February 24-March 3, 2017

Sanibel

CONDOS

5 new listings: Seashells #11 2/2 $395K, Seashells #3 2/2 $405.4K, Donax Village #1 2/2 $539K, Sanctuary Golf Villages I #5 2/2.5 $749K, Sanctuary Golf Villages I #2 3/3 $789K.

5 price changes: Sanibel Inn #3512 2/2 now $659K, Sunset South #2A 2/2 now $729K, Kings Crown #211 3/2 now $849.9K, Tanglewood #1A 3/2 now $1.05M, Pine Cove #102 3/2 now $1.397M.

2 new sales: Mariner Pointe #842 2/2 listed at $499K, Nutmeg Village #303 2/2 listed at $774K (our listing).

 

3 closed sales: Loggerhead Cay #234 2/2 $537K, Heron at The Sanctuary II #1B 3/2.5 $580K, Sundial East #L402 2/2 $735K.

HOMES

9 new listings: 644 Lake Murex Cir 3/2 $699K, 5739 Pine Tree Dr 3/2 $749K, 999 East Gulf Dr 3/2.5 $1.099M, 4080 West Gulf Dr 3/2 $1.195M, 9019 Mockingbird Dr 4/4 $1.199M, 408 Bella Vista Way 4/4 $1.595M, 2981 Wulfert Rd 4/4.5 $1.695M, 1149 Paper Fig Ct 4/3 $2.495M, 3547 West Gulf Dr 4/4 $5.25M.

15 price changes: 9436 Yucca Ct 3/2 now $619K; 545 Piedmont Rd 3/2 now $649K; 1478 Albatross Rd 3/2 now $649K; 3152 Twin Lakes Ln 3/3 now $697K; 5100 Sea Bell Rd 4/2.5 now $699K; 1052 Fish Crow Rd 3/2 now $724K; 243 Southwinds Dr 3/2.5 now $855K; 941 Pecten Ct 3/2 now $949K; 1035 Kings Crown Dr 3/2 now $1.15M; 1656 Middle Gulf Dr 3/4 now $1.199M, 732 Windlass Way 4/3.5 now $1.295M; 1525 San Carlos Bay Dr 3/2 now $1.949M; 2451 Blind Pass Ct 4/4.5 now $1,949,999; 6494 Sanibel-Captiva Rd 3/2 now $1.995M; 1083 Bird Ln 4/2.5 now $3.495M.

3 new sales: 4239 Gulf Pines Dr. 3/2 listed at $549K, 1683 Bunting Ln 3/3 listed at $779,555; 932 Whelk Dr 3/3 listed at $1.425M.

8 closed sales: 980 Sand Castle Rd 3/3 $470K, 1851 Farm Trl 3/2 $505K, 1153 Sabal St 3/2.5 $707K, 5406 Osprey Ct 3/2 $830K, 1174 Harbour Cottage Ct 3/3 half-duplex $1M, 1089 Skiff Pl 3/2 $1.089M, 539 East Rocks Dr 5/5 $1.275M, 1314 Seaspray Ln 3/3 $2.4M.

LOTS

1 new listing: 9023 Mockingbird Dr $389K.

No price changes.

2 new sales: 1550 Centre St listed at $199K (our listing), 1048 Fish Crow Rd listed at $399K.

1 closed sale: 629 Lighthouse Way $1.05M.

Captiva

CONDOS

1 new listing: Tennis Villas #3237 2/2 $440K.

No price changes or new sales.

1 closed sale: Bayside Villas #5228 1/2 $320K.

HOMES

3 new listings: 11461 Old Lodge Ln 2/2 $1.025M, 15147 Captiva Dr 6/5.5 $5.695M, 1121 Schefflera Ct 4/4.5 $5.999M.

No price changes.

2 new sales: 11514 Andy Rosse Ln 5/5 listed at $2.375M, 15843 Captiva Dr 3/3 listed at $5.5M.

1 closed sale: 11537 Laika Ln 4/3 $1.475M.

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 general real estate activity in the community and does not imply that SanibelSusan Realty Associates is participating or participated in these transactions.)

Until next Friday, wishing you sunshine too!

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan