It’s Susan with another Friday report about Sanibel & Captiva Islands. It sure seems like these weeks are flying by quickly. The island is busier, with traffic increasing with more probably to come with the pre-holiday weekend here.

As predicted last week, a mini-cool front arrived late yesterday. Though nothing like the inches of snow we heard about from callers in the Northeast and Midwest, local temperatures got down into the high 50’s last night. Today, it is expected to reach just 70 degrees F. Convertible tops are down and windows are open again! But do not worry, island Thanksgiving visitors, predictions are that it will be back into the 80’s by Sunday, continuing right through next week.

Teammate Dave held an Open House this afternoon at our gulf-front listing at 1351 Middle Gulf Drive where the beachfront area just had its annual trim.  With the sliders open, below are a couple of his cell phone photos of the fantastic water views. With nearly 3000 sq. ft. of living space, it has a huge great room, 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths, a large updated white bright kitchen, separate utility room, plus a family room with beachside patio.

Sanibel & Captiva Real Estate Happenings

There was light turnout yesterday morning at our local Association of Realtors© weekly meeting. Announcements included a few properties that will be coming-on-the-market-soon and a couple of price reductions. One sale was announced too – an improvement over last week. Eight Sanibel east-end properties were open during the following 9 a.m. to noon Open House Caravan, including our new listing at Signal Inn.

More info about the postings since last Friday in the Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service follow a couple of news items below.

Thanksgiving Celebration at The Community House

First organized in 1991, the first Sanibel Thanksgiving Celebration took place on Thanksgiving eve. To make attendance easier, it was moved to the Sunday before the holiday. That tradition continues with this year’s event coming up this weekend, Nov 18, at The Community House beginning at 6:45 p.m. Donations from attendees, including non-perishables, will go to the local F.I.S.H. Food Pantry.

Free and open to the public, the celebration brings the community together with music, fun, and fellowship. The program lasts about an hour and includes a proclamation from Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane, prayer by City Manager Judie Zimomra, and Thanksgiving presentation by representatives from local houses of worship. Guest speaker, F.I.S.H. Board Chair Nicole McHale also will provide a report on how “water” affected their work this summer. There usually are a few pilgrims and Indians in attendance too.

Other event highlights include music and audience sing-a-long. You can be sure that I’ll be there again with the BIG ARTS Community Chorus. The Seahorse Chorale from the Sanibel School too will take the stage. The program concludes with a combined piece we will perform together called “Give Thanks”, followed by cider (provided by Bailey’s General Store), cookies (from Jerry’s Foods), and ice cream samples (from Pinocchio’s).

The Launch

It is going to be a busy weekend, with this event tomorrow evening, also at The Community House. “The Launch” is raising funds for island conservation initiatives. In March, Coastal Keepers (formerly the Sanibel-Captiva chapter of START or Solutions to Avoid Red Tide) held its first “The Launch” (once called Cracker Fest). This weekend’s event includes a sustainable dinner, both live and silent auctions, and a reveal of the group’s new conservation initiatives in the works.

Coastal Keepers’ goal is to increase awareness of the impacts we have on beaches, water quality, and marine habitats, and to help citizens become more effective stewards of the ocean. Through business and community partnerships, Coastal Keepers recently encouraged Sanibel City Council to pass an ordinance on the sale and distribution of disposable plastic straws. With that initiative wrapping up, they now are overseeing a “Bring Your Own Bag” campaign where free reusable canvas bags are distributed to the public. Thousands of bags have already been given out in efforts to build a more environmentally-friendly island.

More info at www.sancapcoastalkeepers.org.

Did Florida’s Environment Win or Lose in the 2018 Midterms?

A lengthy article in today’s Fort Myers “News-Press” on line has some interesting observations and an update by Rae Ann Wessel, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) Director of Natural Resources. Read the complete article at https://www.news-press.com/. Here are some excerpts:

“Did Florida’s Environment Win or Lose in the 2018 Midterms?

“With uncertainty still clouding the elections’ outcome, that remains an open question.

“The fragility and importance of the state’s natural systems headlined the lead-up to the recent midterm vote, as red tide and toxic blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) fouled both Gulf and freshwater throughout the region, slaughtering sea creatures, sickening residents and snuffing hospitality jobs.

“Candidates quickly organized town-hall meetings. Nonprofits marched. State agencies stayed on the sidelines to the dismay of activists.

“Yet once it was time to vote, “the algae and the red tide issues sort of dissipated,” said FGCU political science professor Peter Bergerson. “I think the appearance of the president at the very end dominated the turnout.”

It’s not that the environment didn’t matter to voters, Bergerson said; it just mattered less than other issues. “If you look at the exit polls, it wasn’t top-of-mind,” he said. “Jobs, the economy and immigration were. I think that (conservative voters’) attachment to traditional party loyalties overcame their commitment to the environment.”

“For many water champions, gloom was the order of the day after….

“Others urged advocates not to lose sight of what progress has been made.

“We have to remember we are living now in a time when there are whole series of Everglades ecosystem restoration projects coming to fruition and ready to be finishing up,” said Rae Ann Wessel, natural resources policy director for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. “It seems like molasses for those of us who have been living it, but you have to celebrate that those things are coming together.”

“Another positive to come from the water crisis is “all these concerned people coming out of the woodwork, groups forming like Captains for Clean Water,” Wessel said. “I’ve said, ‘Don’t let a good disaster go to waste.’ We need to be pulling together a set of expectations for the new administration, whoever they may be.”

“And ultimately, Wessel said, as long as residents stay engaged, there will be progress.

“We can’t just hand off our democracy. You can’t just trust that once somebody is elected, they’re going to do the right thing because they got elected,” she said. “It’s up to you and me, it’s up to all of us. We will get the government that we allow … So now, we keep the pressure up, we become partners, we become educators, we praise them when they do something that serves the public interest and we call them out when they do something that is against the public interest.”….”

Fed May Raise Interest Rates at Slower Pace Than Predicted

Posted yesterday on FloridaRealtors© online and credited to 2018 Information, Inc. (Forbes (11/13/18) and Bloomberg (11/14/18):

“The Federal Reserve is forecasting U.S. interest rate increases well into 2020, but the financial markets believe policymakers could rethink their tightening policy as soon as early next year.

“Observers point to a slowdown in economic growth from this year’s stimulus-boosted pace. TS Lombard’s Steven Blitz believes that a December rate hike will most likely occur, but he sees 2019 as more questionable.

“If employment growth starts to slow towards a neutral pace early next year and the unemployment rate creeps up as a result, does the Fed keep going just because wages are accelerating? We doubt it,” he says. “The noted slowdown in business spending will only be further negatively impacted by the strong dollar and higher real rates.”

TS Lombard’s prediction: The Fed will suspend its rate-hike campaign in March 2019.

“The Fed sees interest-rate increases as a tool to fight inflation, but the latest report for October found little evidence of inflation despite strength in the economy and wages.

“The consumer-price index (CPI) increased 0.3% in October from the prior month, the Labor Department said Wednesday; year-to-year, overall consumer prices climbed 2.5% in October, compared with 2.3% in the 12 months that ended in September.

“Excluding the volatile categories of food and energy, the core CPI rose 0.2% last month, largely in line with recent trends, and 2.1% from a year earlier.

“”These are pretty steady inflation prints,” with “nothing in here that argues inflation is going to overshoot,” says Omair Sharif, senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale. Also, there’s little to concern policy makers, so they’ll “continue to stay gradual” with interest-rate hikes, he said.””

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity Nov 9-16, 2018

Sanibel

CONDOS

4 new listings: Sundial West #C310 1/1 $469,750; Signal Inn #4 1/1 $499.9K (our listing, shown below), Sanibel Surfside #126 2/2 $895K, Oceans Reach #3D2 2/2 $989K.

1 price change: Sanibel Surfside #116 2/2 now $969K.

2 new sales: Sundial East #T301 2/2 listed at $845K, Tamarind #B202 2/2.5 listed at $1.749M.

2 closed sales: Seashells #43 2/2 $318K, Sunset South #6D 2/2 $611K (our listing).

HOMES

9 new listings: 328 Palm Lake Dr 3/2 $687K; 1586 Century Ct 3/2.5 $689K; 9448 Cotten Ct 3/2 $875K; 686 East Rocks Dr 3/2 $889K; 1056 S Yachtsman Dr 3/2 $899K; 1309 Eagle Run Dr 3/2.5 $1.175M; 1838 Buckthorn Ln 3/2 $1.295M; 5250 Caloosa End Ln 3/2.5 $1,594,500; 1520 Angel Dr 5/5.5 $1.799M.

8 price changes: 1325 Par View Dr 3/3 now $670K, 9446 Beverly Ln 3/3.5 now $739K, 1677 Sabal Sands Rd 3/2 now $810K, 1740 Middle Gulf Dr 3/3 now $899K, 1656 Middle Gulf Dr 3/4 now $909.9K, 534 N Yachtsman Dr 3/2 now $999K, 772 Birdie View Pt 3/3.5 now $1.339M, 4809 Tradewinds Dr 3/3.5 now $1.999M.

4 new sales: 498 Surf Sound Ct 3/3 listed at $885K, 1304 Eagle Run Dr 3/3 listed at $1.1M, 794 Conch Ct 3/2.5 listed at $1.295M, 3790 West Gulf Dr 3/2.5 listed at $1.699M.

3 closed sales: 6093 Henderson Rd 3/2 $450K, 1350 Sand Castle Rd 3/2 $650K, 1286 Par View Dr 3/3 $935K.

LOTS

3 new listings: 1318 Par View Dr $425K, 3308 Saint Kilda Rd $529,555; 1729 Jewel Box Dr $999.9K.

1 price change: 0 Dinkins Lake Rd now $268.5K.

No new sales.

1 closed sale: 9232 Dimmick Dr $170K.

Captiva

CONDOS

3 new listings: Bayside Villas #5234 1/2 $399K, Beach Villas #2538 3/3 $909.9K, Beach Cottages #1409 3/2 $1.25M.

No price changes, new sales, or closed sales.

HOMES

No new listings.

1 price change: 11505 Gore Ln 5/5 now $1.795M.

No new sales.

1 closed sale: 38 Sea Hibiscus Ct 3/2 $950K.

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 transactions.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan