It’s SanibelSusan posting her Friday island blog a little early today as it’s almost time to head out for the kick-off of Sanibel Luminary at The Sanibel Historical Village and Museum. The islands Community Chorus is singing from 4-4:45 p.m., followed by the Sanibel Band. Then at 5:30 p.m., the official Luminary Trail is lit with festivities until 9 p.m.

The islands already are twinkling with holiday lights and decorations, but it hardly feels like December weather. Yesterday it hit the mid-80’s, but it’s back into the high 70’s today.

More of the same is expected until the end of next week when a cold-front (Florida-style) is expected. (That means perhaps highs in only the 60’s next Thursday and Friday.)

This weekend, it looks like attendees can forget their ugly Christmas sweaters and go with “shorts’ for Sanibel’s Luminary tonight and Captiva’s tomorrow.

SanibelSusan Realty Happenings

In preparation, the island seems to have settled into a pre-Christmas mode this week. Little sales action was announced yesterday at the Thursday Realtor® Caravan meeting.

I was pleased to announce the quick sale of our new listing overlooking Dinkins Bayou on Harbour Lane and we had two of the properties on the 9 a.m. to noon Caravan that followed the meeting.

The action posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Services since last Friday follows a couple of news items below.

Upcoming Events

• Elf Jr. The Musical – This comedy is running from now through Tues, Dec 5 at The Community House. The Community House theater is a unique space with the audience on three sides, you become part of the show. Creative Theater Workshop will also have auditions for Aladdin, Jr on Sat, Dec 2 at The Community House for youth ages 8 to 18. This show will feature workshops in stage combat, special effects, fencing/sword fighting, singing, dancing and acting. Audition sign-ups at www.CTW.Life.
• Shell Harbor Boat Parade – This is a new event planned by the homeowners’ association to be held Sat Dec 16 with boats gathering at 5:30 p.m. and the parade starting shortly after. It will begin just outside Sanibel Harbour in San Carlos Bay and proceed down the main Shell Harbor canal before turning around in the Victoria Cove basin. Find more info at the Shell Harbor Property Owners Association Facebook page.

2017 Hurricane Season Has Ended – But Issues Linger

The following article from Tallahassee was posted yesterday on line at FloridaRealtors® and credited to Jim Turner of “News Service of Florida”.

“Thursday was the last day of the highly active, deadly and destructive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, but Floridians will feel its impact for years.The massive hit from Hurricane Irma caused direct physical and emotional impacts in Florida, and ripples continue to come ashore as thousands of people flee Hurricane Maria’s devastation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“Politicians are scrambling to determine how much of the next state budget will be dedicated to covering losses that may or may not be paid by the federal government. They’re also looking at regulatory changes for nursing homes and debris-removal companies, as well as changes dealing with issues such as evacuation lanes, shelters and a potential state fuel reserve.

“Gov. Rick Scott, who was a visible face before and after Irma struck, said Monday that he’d like to boost the availability of propane for generators before the 2018 storm season. “You always learn something,” Scott said. “Everybody had generators. This last time we started running low on propane. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. But everyone did a good job. Highway safety, we kept the fuel going.”

“Visit Florida spent $5 million to tell potential tourists that the state quickly reopened after Hurricane Irma, even as scars from the September storm remain etched across agricultural fields and the Florida Keys….

“Members of the House Select Committee on Hurricane Response and Preparedness will meet Monday and discuss potential storm-related recommendations for the 2018 legislative session, which starts in January. Among the possibilities are legislation about housing, agriculture tax relief, hardening for emergency-operations centers and management of shelters.

Mark Wool, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Tallahassee office, called 2017 the busiest for the Atlantic since 2005.”We didn’t have any things working against tropical cyclone development like in recent years,” Wool said. “There was no El Nino in effect, which tends to suppress things. Didn’t see a lot of dust coming off Africa. We had a very warm ocean and the depth of the warm water was quite large. And all of those things tend to fuel development of a lot of storms.”

“Emergency management officials each year stress preparing for hurricanes. But Wool said the flatness of Florida requires additional vigilance by coastal communities against flooding, as the state is also experiencing a period of rising sea levels. “Parts of South Beach are flooding now without any storms. Blue skies, tidal flooding, the king tides,” Wool said. “We’ve seen times in the historic record where we’ve had large fluctuations in sea level, and we’re certainly on the upswing.”

“As of Nov. 13, more than 830,000 property owners across the state had filed claims for $5.88 billion in insured losses from Irma, which was one of four storms – Tropical Storm Emily, Irma, Hurricane Nate and Tropical Storm Philippe – that had a direct impact on the state during the six-month hurricane season.

Emily in early August made landfall on Anna Maria Island and quickly was downgraded to a tropical depression. Nate brushed the western Panhandle on Oct. 8 as the center of the storm came ashore near Biloxi, Miss. Philippe brought rain and couple of tornadoes to the southern part of the state as it made landfall Oct. 29 with 45 mph winds in Southwest Florida.

“Overall, there were 17 named storms this year. The most devastation came from Harvey’s Aug. 26 landfall in Texas, Irma’s double landfall and run-up of Florida starting Sept. 10, and Maria’s destruction of utilities and other infrastructure across Puerto Rico on Sept. 20. While spinning in the Atlantic, Irma reached maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, a pace it held for a record 37 consecutive-hours. Nate also set a record in October for the fastest forward motion recorded for a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico.

“We certainly did establish some records,” Wool said. “Harvey’s rainfall established a new rainfall record for one system in the United States. I think some areas had 60 inches of rains, which was phenomenal.”

“Irma also set new benchmarks for evacuees – an estimated 6.5 million people left their homes in advance of the storm – and power outages and restoration crews. Florida Power & Light, for example, reported 90% of its customers – about 10 million people – were without power on average 2.3 days.

“The agriculture industry has put a preliminary estimate of $2.5 billion on its losses from the storm.

However, Florida leaders have yet to convince the White House and Congress to include an estimated $761 million in losses to the citrus industry in a series of disaster-relief packages this year. State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam again implored Florida’s congressional delegation on Tuesday to support U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney’s proposal to add $1.5 billion for Florida’s agricultural industry to a $44 billion disaster-relief request sent to Congress on Nov. 17 by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

“While awaiting federal assistance, Scott authorized a $25 million interest-free loan program for citrus farmers.

“Visit Florida, meanwhile, directed $5 million from its tourism budget for a special post-Irma marketing campaign, and Scott has requested lawmakers boost Visit Florida’s marketing dollars from $75 million in the current year to $100 million because of the need to have post-disaster marketing money readily available.

“Despite the state saying tourism numbers continue to climb, hotels remain closed in parts of the Keys, where housing issues have grown for workers after Irma devastated a number of areas outside of Key West. The Islamorada Resort Company, which hired more than 500 construction workers to repair storm damage at four locations on the islands, is reopening the first of the four on Dec 15 and the second a month later….”

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service Activity November 24-December 1, 2017

Sanibel

CONDOS

4 new listings: Captains Walk #D5 2/1 $299.5K, Sunset South #7C 2/2 $598K, Cottage Colony West #101 1/1 $649K, Shorewood #2B 3/3 $1.568M.

3 price changes: Seashells #40 2/2 now $349.9K, Kimball Lodge #303 1/2 now $599K, Pointe Santo #B2 2/2 now $799K.

4 new sales: Seashells #44 2/2 listed at $339K, Sunset South #1C 2/2 listed at $685K, Nutmeg Village #205 2/2 listed at $769K, Bougainvillea #A3 4/4 listed at $3.695M.

2 closed sales: Seashells #11 2/2 $331K, Nutmeg Village #100 2/2 $950K.

HOMES

10 new listings: 1438 Sandpiper Cir 3/3.5 half-duplex $414K; 5306 Ladyfinger Lake 3/2 $549K; 9240 Belding Dr 3/2.5 $585K; 749 Cardium St 3/2 $769K; 1450 Sand Castle Rd 3/2 $799K; 1807 Serenity Ln 3/2 $799,999; 3239 Twin Lakes Ln 3/2 $979K, 899 Almas Ct 3/2 $1.249M; 490 Sawgrass Pl 3/2.5 $1.695M; 547 Kinzie island Ct 4/4.5 $1.789M.

6 price changes: 4542 Bowen Bayou Rd 3/2 now $572K, 1317 Par View Dr 3/3 now $629K, 241 Violet Dr 3/2.5 now $750K, 932 Whelk 4/3 now $1.224M, 1672 Hibiscus Dr 3/2 now $1.269M, 411 Bella Vista Way 4/4 half-duplex now $2.15M.

5 new sales: 915 Palm St 3/2 listed at $475K, 1187 Sand Castle Rd 3/2 listed at $635K, 2030 Sunrise Cir 3/3 listed at $649K, 2510 Harbour Ln 2/2 listed at $749K (our listing), 411 Bella Vista Way 4/4 listed at $2.15M, 4649 Rue Belle Mer 3/2.5 listed at $2.595M.

2 closed sales: 1270 Bay Dr 3/2 $1.334M, 3547 West Gulf Dr 4/4 $3.9M.

LOTS

1 new listing: 2460 Library Way $349K.

1 price change: Lot 27, Leisure Acres now $59K.

No new or closed sales.

Captiva

CONDOS

1 new listing: Sunset Beach Villas #2212 1/1 $530K.

1 price change: Beach Villas #2617 1/1 now $525K.

No new or closed sales.

HOMES

1 new listing: 11535 Chapin Ln 4/3 $1.449M.

No price changes, new, or closed sales.

LOTS

Nothing to report.

This representation is based in part on data supplied by the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® 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 transaction.

Wishing you fair weather & a great weekend too! Susan Andrews aka SanibelSusan