It’s The Little Things… Staying Positive on Sanibel Island

It’s lonely in the office again this afternoon. Yesterday, teammate Dave stopped by the back door briefly when he was on the island doing a couple of real estate errands. First time I’d seen him in almost a month and hardly recognized the scruffy bearded guy. (Smart boy didn’t mention my ugly hair.)

Real estate is considered an essential business, so I’m in the office a few hours here and there, though our office remains physically closed. Mostly, the team is working at home as we can, using social distancing.

Yesterday also brought my first home delivery grocery order from Bailey’s. It was like a kid at Christmas, amazing what becomes exciting when we are stuck at home.

I’ve even enjoyed admiring the gardenia bush by my front door which I’m sure has bloomed year-after-year, but this time of the year, life usually is too busy to notice. So, as inconvenient as this is, it’s been wonderful to “stop and smell the gardenias.”

Also, yesterday, a friend dropped a homemade gift in my mailbox. See photo – how special is this? The sweet message that accompanied the gift: “And then the whole world walked inside. Shut their doors & said “We will stop it all – EVERYTHING – to protect our weaker ones, our sicker ones, our older ones.” And nothing – NOTHING – in the history of mankind ever felt more like LOVE than this.”

So, as we all work our way through a special, but unusual week of Passover, Easter, and spring – I hope you all are safe, well, and part of the crowd that individually is flattening the curve.

As far as number of virus cases here – as of 10 a.m. today, April 10, the Florida Department of Health reports that Sanibel has 6 and Captiva 1.

Who knows what one can really believe from the news these days, but it seems to be a consensus that the peak here will be in about two weeks. Local schools remain closed until May 1 and last night the news included information on how a virtual graduation will happen at Florida Gulf Coast University on May 3.

Through the week, I have been in touch with our local banks and title company where loans and closings continue to occur. Some are working from home, thank goodness today’s technology makes things easier.

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity April 3-10, 2020

Since a few listings have been withdrawn or terminated early, below from the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service is a summary of the islands’ condo, home, and lot inventory today, compared to units under contract, sales year-to-date, compared to the same period last year, and total sales in 2019.

As the table shows, our market was improving nicely before this happened.

	Condos		Homes		Lots
	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $
Sanibel
For sale	120	790,000	185	1,320,474	76	724,707
Under contract	17	890,617	34	1,029,244	1	2,600,000
Sold 1/1-4/10/20	52	718,195	67	1,119,889	4	849,666
Sold 1/1-4/10/19	39	638,608	46	1,086,050	2	250,000
Total Sold in 2019	127	694,392	211	949,790	15	372,200
Captiva
For sale	46	1,059,692	46	3,309,217	3	3,563,000
Under contract	2	1,150,000	1	2,495,000	0	N/A
Sold 1/1-4/10/20	7	917,714	7	3,331,142	2	1,925,000
Sold 1/1-4/10-19	7	1,292,571	1	2,800,000	0	N/A
Total Sold in 2019	29	1,037,077	17	2,737,503	1	1,375,000

Note: For sale & Under contract = asking prices.

Below, also from the MLS, is the action posted since last Friday. The most activity this week was Sanibel closings, likely from contracts written before the shutdown. There was no activity at all (new listings, price changes, new or closed sales) on Captiva.

Sanibel

CONDOS

No new listings.

1 price change: Captains Walk #B3 1/1 $219.9K.

2 new sales: Kings Crown #110 2/2 asking $795K, High Tide #A101 2/2 asking $1.295M.

5 closed sales: Sandpebble #2F 2/2 $425K, Sundial #D205 1/1 $435K, Coquina Beach #5A 2/2 $450K; Mariner Pointe #642 2/2 $550K, Sundial #L404 2/2 $1.2M.

HOMES

1 new listing: 1430 Sanderling Cir 4/3.5 $999K

4 price changes: 2065 Wild Lime Dr 3/2.5 now $599K, 433 Lake Murex Cir 3/2 now $569K, 1978 Roseate Ln 3/2 now $725K, 1271 Par View Dr 3/3 now $899K,

No new sales.

7 closed sales: 1607 Sand Castle Rd 3/2.5 1/2 duplex $530K; 5297 Punta Caloosa Ct 3/2 $610K, 1410 Albatross Rd 3/3 $745K; 822 Beach Rd 4/4 duplex $775K; 1244 Par View Dr 4/3 $794,208; 599 Lake Murex Cir 4/3.5 $1.225M; 4709 Rue Belle Mer 3/2 $2.952M.

LOTS

No new listings, price changes, or new sales.

1 closed sale: 1331 Par View Dr $340K.

Captiva

CONDOS, HOMES, & LOTS

No new listings, price changes, new or closed sales.

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.

Looking forward, SanibelSusan’s crystal ball says “everything’s gonna be alright”. I bet when this is over, many will want a peaceful vacation, with Sanibel/Captiva preferred over international or cruise travel.

Here’s our ad from today’s issue of the “Island Sun”.

Happy Easter!

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan

P.S. The Easter bunny may be lost, but look at this little guy munching what’s left of my side lawn last night. The Sanibel bunnies have returned & I love them even if they do a number on any new green shoots.