Another Sanibel Friday, just not a sunny one this week. The islands have experienced off-&-on rain for days with more expected over the weekend and into next week.

Florida’s vegetation is growing like crazy with the exploding bunny population enjoying every juicy morsel. During one of my stops at home this week, I caught one chewing a palm frond knocked off in an earlier shower. That is a new one, who knew bunnies like palm fronds?

The island continues to reopen slowly. Plenty of vehicles have been at Periwinkle Place during the rainy days, while the bike paths have had riders, both rain and shine.

Here at the office, teammates and I are back to a more regular schedule. Our listings had a few showings, one went under contract, we had a listing presentation yesterday, and a home inspection. Inventory remains low with business picking up. Good news for sellers.

The local Association of Realtors® office remains closed to Realtors® for at least another two weeks. No word yet on when weekly Caravan, Committee, and Membership Meetings will resume in person. The Sanibel & Captiva Islands Specialist Designation classes which typically are offered now, have been postponed until fall.

The activity posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service this week is after a couple of news items below.

Status of Sanibel’s Re-Opening

Below are the status of things following Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Public Lodging

• Occupancy cap percentages removed from hotels/motels/timeshares
• International travelers prohibited
• Reservations for guests from areas identified by the Governor as high risk (currently NY, NJ, CT, LA) must be for periods longer than the quarantine period established by the Governor (currently 14 days).
• Must adhere to state-approved county Safety Plan.

Beaches

• City-owned & operated parking lots are open.
• Prohibited possession & consumption of alcohol from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the beaches, parks, picnic areas.
• Through Labor Day consumption or possession of alcohol at beaches, parks, picnic areas by 10 or more persons requires a City of Sanibel Special Event Permit.

Restaurants, Retail, Museums, Private Fitness Centers

• May operate at 50% indoor capacity

Weddings – temporary restrictions lifted.

Barber Shops & Salons – May operate with safety protocols.

Sanibel Public Library

• Phase 1 opening began Monday with social distancing & masks. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays & Thursdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Fridays; & 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays in June, July, & August.

Sanibel Recreation Center – Phase 1 reopening & Youth Summer Camp will open June 15.

Governor DeSantis Announces Phase 2

At a press conference in Orlando on Wednesday, Governor DeSantis announced that today Florida will be entering phase 2 of its reopening and recovery. This move sees many of the establishments and venues that have remained closed since the pandemic struck now able to reopen at 50% of their indoor capacity. It includes the reopening of places like bars (seated service only), movie theaters, bowling alleys, auditoriums at 50% capacity with appropriate distancing and sanitation procedures in place. At this time, Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties are not part of phase 2 reopening.

Executive Order 2020-139, contains info on what is summarized above. For continued reference, Executive Order 2020-123 contains information regarding the full phase 1 of Florida’s reopening. Additionally, all of the governor’s executive orders can be found here.

Instant Reaction to Jobs Report – June 5, 2020

As a long-time fan of NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, it was good to read his “instant reaction” today to the May Jobs Report.

“Employment data quickly turned for the better with surprising net job creation in May. There are still people getting laid off and filing for unemployment insurance for the first time, but job creations are exceeding that by a good margin of 2.5 million in May. Total personal income actually grew during the lockdown from the massive stimulus package, including enhanced unemployment insurance, and savings rose tremendously. People saved around 8% of their income before the pandemic and they saved 33% of their income in the latest month. With many economies advancing in phases of reopening, more money will be spent and more job additions will follow. Some jobs were temporarily furloughed – such as in dental offices, hair salons, and home building – and there is a sizeable pent-up demand for these services. Construction jobs, which had fallen by nearly 1 million in April, came back in May with 464,000 additions. Given the strong return of housing demand, construction jobs will continue to be added – perhaps more aggressively than in the past.

“The housing sector is in a V-shaped recovery. The broader economy will not be, and the double-digit unemployment rate may persist until the end of the year. Still, the latest jobs data is showing much better recovery potential.”

First Reported Sanibel Case Since May 7

We were not happy to see the posting this afternoon by the City. It says:

“Today, June 5, 2020, the Florida Department of Health announced a new confirmed COVID-19 positive case on Sanibel. The last confirmed case on Sanibel was reported on May 7, 2020.

“The City’s home page has direct access to the Florida Department of Health’s updated COVID-19 daily report for today. The total number of cases reported on Sanibel since March 26, 2020 is 12.

“The Florida Department of Health conducts all case and contact tracking; the Florida Department does not provide the City any additional information than what appears on these reports. The Florida Department of Health provides no identifying information to the City such as name, age, gender, or address of the persons who test positive.

“Additionally, the City’s Home Page includes a direct link to the Florida Department of Health daily dashboard as well as the State-wide statistics release to the City sorted by zip code.”

Stay safe, islanders and visitors. Please keep wearing masks, washing hands, and abiding by social distancing.

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity May 29-June 5, 2020

Sanibel

CONDOS

7 new listings: Sandpebble #2D 2/2 $568.5K, Sandpebble #1D 2/2 $574.5K, Oceans Reach #2X1 1/1 $695K, Pointe Santo #B3 2/2 $699K, Sand Pointe #227 2/2 $739K, Pointe Santo #D47 2/2 $974K, By-The-Sea #B301 2/2 $1.595M.

4 price changes: Sandpebble #4E 2/2 now $475K, Pointe Santo #D21 2/2 now $549K, Pointe Santo #E21 2/2 now $899K, Pointe Santo #C3 3/2 now $1.125M.

3 new sales: Sanibel Shores #A2 2/2 listed at $459K, Sanibel Arms West #B2 2/2 listed at $534.9K, Blue Gulf #201 3/2 listed at $1.199M.

1 closed sale: Coquina Beach #5B 2/2 $434K.

HOMES

2 new listings: 5056 Joewood Dr 3/2 $824.5K, 2405 Blue Crab Ct 4/4.5 $2.5M.

9 price changes: 1027 Sand Castle Rd 2/2 now $449K, 4115 Sanibel-Captiva Rd 3/1 now $585K, 1978 Roseate Ln 3/2 now $699.9K, 990/992 Greenwood Ct N 3/2.5 duplex now $700K, 1220 Sand Castle Rd 3/2.5 now $795K, 1437 Causey Ct 3/2.5 now $925K, 1430 Causey Ct 3/2 now $949K, 919 Pecten Ct 3/3/2 now $999K, 2385 Wulfert Rd 4/5 now $999.9K.

8 new sales: 970 Palm St 3/2 listed at $559K, 1973 Wild Lime Dr 4/3 listed at $574.9K, 987 Sand Castle Rd 4/3.5 listed at $695K, 1285 Par View Dr 4/2.5 listed at $789K, 901 S.Yachtsman Dr 2/2 listed at $799K (our listing), 5855 Sanibel-Captiva Rd 3/2 listed at $975K, 1010 Kings Crown Dr 3/3 listed at $997K, 2460 Harbour Ln 3/3 listed at $1.999M.

3 closed sales: 857 Rabbit Rd 1/1 $429K, 2186 Egret Cir 3/2 $530K, 1564 Middle Gulf Dr 3/2.5 $1.075M.

LOTS

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

Captiva

CONDOS

No new listings or price changes.

2 new sales: Lands End Village #1651 2/2 listed at $1.199M, Seabreeze #1253 3/3 listed at $1.495M.

1 closed sale: Captiva Shores #9 3/2 listed at $1.725M.

HOMES

1 new listing: 6418 Pine Ave 3/3 $1.849M.

2 price changes: 16531 Captiva Dr 8/8 now $2.85M, 15147 Captiva Dr 6/5.5 now $3.995M.

1 new sale: 11525 Wightman Ln 3/2 listed at $1.225M.

2 closed sales: 1074 South Seas Plantation Rd 3/3.5 $2.025M, 15843 Captiva Dr 3/3 $6.899M.

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.

Below is our ad from today’s “Island Sun”.

Until next Friday, stay dry, & enjoy your weekend,

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan