Here’s hoping your Thanksgiving holiday is continuing right through the weekend. On Sanibel, the island has quickly flipped into Christmas mode. Teammate Elise had our office decorated before she headed out Wednesday.
Many other businesses have done the same. This year, with Thanksgiving so late, it makes sense to hurry and get ready. Island luminary celebrations are next weekend and Christmas is in just 26 days!
Below are some upcoming local events and news items, followed by the weekly report of the action posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service.
Upcoming Events
- Sanibel Masters Art Festival– today & tomorrow, 11/29 & 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Community House & Community Park (across the street from SanibelSusan Realty)
- 35th Annual Sanibel Holiday Luminary Stroll – next Friday, 12/6 from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
- 35th Annual Captiva Holiday Luminary Stroll – next Saturday, 12/7 from 5:30 to 9 p.m., the annual Golf Cart parade from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. precedes the holiday stroll
BIG ARTS Community Chorus Holiday Concert – Tues, 12/10 at 7 p.m. at the Sanibel Community Church. (We thank them for the use of their sanctuary while the new performance hall is under construction on the BIG ARTS campus.) Tickets are just $12, children free. Get them at the door or on-line at www.BIGARTS.org.
Real Estate Happenings
Because of the holiday, the local Association of Realtors® had no Caravan meeting yesterday. However, below is a summary of 2019 Sanibel sales stats. Overall, sales continue to lag last year, while in our office our sales this year are better than 2018.
The Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® has 245 board and MLS members. With these statistics showing just 320 closed sales this year, there unfortunately are members with no sales. Many years, SanibelSusan has ranked 9th in number of sales but this year, so far, I’m in 8th, with 20 sides closed. Being top dog is not my goal, but this year’s number of closed transactions is a good indication that our business is improving. When teammates Dave and Lisa are not in the office supporting our listings, they also are selling. So far, they have two sales on-island and one in town.
| Sanibel | Condos | Homes | Lots | ||||||
| Status as of 11/29 | # | Avg Price | Avg DOM | # | Avg Price | Avg DOM | # | Avg Price | Avg DOM |
| Available | 127 | 810,576 | 173 | 182 | 1,428,182 | 142 | 74 | 755,033 | 433 |
| Under contract | 16 | 757,278 | 77 | 15 | 1,037,560 | 99 | 1 | 170,000 | 239 |
| Sold/closed 2019 | 112 | 683,554 | 156 | 194 | 952,490 | 168 | 14 | 387,357 | 715 |
| Sold/closed 2018 | 155 | 720,617 | 178 | 218 | 1,112,747 | 164 | 21 | 602,095 | 240 |
Weather Update
Being the time of the year when we are especially thankful for Florida’s weather, shellers today are posting about the hundreds of sand dollars covering the flats at low tide. Bright blue skies and sunshine with temperatures in the 70’s have made for continued wonderful days, while clear night skies have made evening star watchers happy too. Daytime temperatures in the high 70’s are expected until Tuesday when the next cold front arrives and a high of just 64 is forecast.
One of the best postings that I saw this week was on Wednesday by SCCF (Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation) which says “The coast looks clear for a beautiful beginning to Thanksgiving weekend on our beaches based on one forecasting tool. For the first time since the launch of #HABscope last month. The respiratory irritation forecast due to red tide is very low to none on Sanibel beaches today through tomorrow night. Scientists at our Marine Lab provide testing of water samples three times a week from Bowman’s Beach and Tarpon Bay Beach. Sanibel Sea School does sampling at Lighthouse Beach for this Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System – GCOOS tool….”
That post coincides with what happy beach-goers and boaters have been saying – gulf waters are clear, with no red tide evident. Let’s hope it stays that way!
Study: Lots of Listings Coming as Baby Boomers Age
Posted on-line this week from Florida Realtors®: “Boomers own about 1/3 of all U.S. properties and 27% of them will sell their home within the next 20 years – but some metros will feel the impact more than others.
“SEATTLE – Builders have struggled to overcome land scarcity and rising labor costs and materials. But a flood of homes will come on the market over the next 20 years as baby boomers age – enough to affect local economies in traditional retirement areas.
“Northerners are struggling. They love winter sunshine and low taxes, but a decision to move 1,000 miles to Fla. isn’t easy. Will homesickness set in? How much does a trip “back home” to see family cost? And how much tax savings are we talking about?
“The boomer generation, once 76 million strong in the U.S., dwarfed the 55 million Gen-Xers and 62 million millennials it preceded. Today, the 60-and-older generation owns about a third of America’s homes, and a new analysis by Zillow attempts to show how their aging will impact the housing market.
“The study predicts that a “Silver Tsunami” of sellers will build slowly as the number of adults aged 60 or older pass away each year. However, a rise is expected in the 2020s and 2030s.
“In the decade from 2007 to 2017, roughly 730,000 U.S. homes were released into the market each year by seniors aged 60 or older. From 2017 to 2027 and from 2027 to 2037, that number is set to rise to 920,000 and 1.17 million per year, respectively. This means more than 27% of today’s owner-occupied homes will become available by 2037.
“While virtually all areas will feel the effects to some degree – between one-fifth and one-third of the current owner-occupied housing stock was impacted in every metro analyzed – the wave won’t hit all at once and won’t strike all markets equally.
“Retirement hubs like Florida and Arizona are likely to feel the sharpest impact. If demand erodes because fewer people choose to retire there in the coming years, those areas might end up with excess housing. Also heavily impacted will be regions like the Rust Belt, which saw younger people move away in recent decades, leaving older generations to make up a larger share of the population.
“Some regions will be far less affected. These include Salt Lake City, where a much smaller share of homeowners are in their golden years, as well as Atlanta, Austin, Dallas and Houston – all of which are vibrant but relatively inexpensive places that tend to attract younger residents looking for an affordable alternative to expensive coastal cities.
“Still, the differences in the share of homes released by seniors among metros are small compared to the differences within them. Palm Springs, for example, will see 45% of its owner-occupied homes vacated by 2037, compared with 23.8% of the combined L.A.-Riverside metro area overall. El Mirage and Sun City figure to see nearly two-third of their homes available, compared with 28.2% of the Phoenix area at-large.
“Housing released by the Silver Tsunami – upwards of 20 million homes hitting the market through the mid-2030s – will provide a substantial and sustained boost to supply, comparable to the fluctuations that new home construction experienced in the 2000s boom-bust cycle. Whether this housing is appropriately located, priced and styled to meet future demand, however, will be an important factor in how it pairs with new construction to alleviate today’s housing shortage.
“It seems likely, however, that the construction industry will, over the next 20 years, start to put a greater emphasis on updating existing properties rather than building from the ground up.”
Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity November 22-29, 2019
Sanibel
CONDOS
3 new listings: Sanibel Arms West #B2 2/2 $569.9K, Loggerhead Cay #324 2/2 $589K, Sanibel Sunset #301 3/2 $2.15M.
3 price changes: Blind Pass #E202 2/2 now $429K, Sunset South #2C 2/2 now $599K, Atrium #103 2/2 now $1.2999M.
2 new sales: Seashells #37 2/2 listed at $429K, Surfside 12 #A3 3/2 listed at $749K.
2 closed sales: Sanibel Arms West #E2 2/2 $825K (our listing), Villas of Sanibel #A102 3/3 1.15M.
HOMES
10 new listings: 1856 Ardsley Way 3/2 $525K, 3947 Coquina Dr 2/2 $595K, 550 Leather Fern Pl 3/2 $639K, 3570 Bunny Ln 3/3 $739K, 934 Cormorant Cir 3/2 $749K, 668 Anchor Dr 3/2 $958.5K, 6101 Starling Way 3/3.5 $1.189M, 1671 Hibiscus Dr 5/3 $1.299M, 228 Violet Dr 4/2 $1.749M, 1018 Dixie Beach Blvd 4/5 $2.449M.
4 price changes: 760 Cardium St 3/2 now $649K, 1223 Par View Dr 3/2 now $760K, 919 Pecten Ct 3/3/2 now $1.19M, 1898 Woodring Rd 2/2 now $2.5M.
1 new sale: 747 Windlass Way 4/3.5 listed at $2.45M.
4 closed sales: 1731 Serenity Ln 4/3 $583K, 6492 Sanibel-Captiva Rd 2/1 $842K, 788 Nerita St 3/3 $865K, 1345 Tahiti Dr 3/2.5 $1.075M.
LOTS
1 new listing: 638 Lake Murex Cir $565K.
No price changes, new sales, or closed sales.
Captiva
CONDOS
2 new listings: Bayside Villas #4216 1/2 $374.9K, Bayside Villas #5104 1/2 $410K.
2 price changes: Bayside Villas #5228 1/2 now $399K, Bayside Villas #5136 1/2 now $399K.
1 new sale: Ventura Captiva #2B 3/3 listed at $915K.
1 closed sale: Gulf Beach Villas #2008 2/2 $631,750.
HOMES
No new listings or price changes.
2 new sales: with contingencies: 11509 Chapin Ln 4/4 listed at $1,799,999; 11559 Laika Ln 2/2/2 listed at $4.9M.
No 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 transactions.
Best wishes for a continued & wonderful holiday season!
Til next Friday!
Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan
You must be logged in to post a comment.