It has been seven quiet days on the islands with little affects noticed here when Hurricane Ida passed out in the Gulf last weekend. Now our thoughts are with those from Louisiana into New England that have been ravaged by that far-reaching storm.

Here the haze-causing Saharan dust still is noticeable when crossing the causeway. The news says it has caused some discomfort to those with allergies, but it has worked in keeping tropical storms away from SW FL. So far, 2021 has been a lucky one for us at least as far as hurricanes are concerned.

Our first “cold front” arrived yesterday. With heavy rain much of that day and again this morning, the daytime temperatures got down into the mid-70’s. High temperatures only the mid-80’s are expected for the next seven to ten days. Maybe fall is arriving early!

SanibelSusan Realty

Teammate Dave and I have been covering the office this week. We had closings both Monday and Tuesday; then on Wednesday, Dave put his Estero listing under contract. Another of our Sanibel listings is scheduled to close after the holiday too. We like weeks like these, particularly in the off-season! The team and I continue to look for new listings as there still Is little inventory.

After a couple of news items below is the week’s report of the action posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service. First, a summary of Sanibel and Captiva residential inventory today (Sep 3, 2021) with data from islands MLS. Though, September is usually the slowest month, it sure would be great for more properties to become available. We have buyers and colleagues do too!

Status	SANIBEL						CAPTIVA
	Condos		Homes		Lots		Condos		Homes		Lots
	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $
For sale	15	905,793	23	2,926,654	16	587,875	3	1,496,666	12	5,827,249	0	N/A
Under contract	25	795,556	40	1,553,047	8	478,929	6	2,211,500	3	2,479,666	0	N/A
Sold 2021 to-date	215	870,579	274	1,310,921	59	747,110	43	1,046,916	35	2,807,868	2	2,950,000
Sold 2020	192	733,876	290	954,718	23	606,233	47	821,713	27	2,923,148	4	2,537,500

Temporary Closings

As in past Septembers, several island restaurants are taking time off, some for vacations, some for deep-cleans and annual maintenance. Here are the ones we have heard about:

• Bleu Rendez-Vous Bistro – closed thru Sep 30, reopens Oct 1.
• Blue Giraffe at Periwinkle Place – closed Sep 7-20, reopens Sep 21.
• Blue Giraffe 2 at Beachview Estates – closed Sep 5-20, reopens Sep 21.
• Mad Hatter – closed Sep 6-30, reopens Oct 1.
• Paper Fig Kitchen – closed Sep 6-13, reopens Sep 14.
• Rosie’s Café & Grill – closed Sep 6-13, reopens Sep 14.
• The Sandbar Steak & Seafood – closed thru Sep 29, reopens Sep 30.
• Spoondrift Island Bowls – closed thru Sep 6, reopens Sep 7.
• Sweet Melissa’s Café – closed Sep 5-20, reopens Sep 21.
• Traders – closed Sep 11 thru Oct 5, reopens Oct 6.
• Traders 2 (T2) – closed Sep 4 thru Oct 4, reopens Oct 5.
• Traditions on the Beach – closed Sep 5-23, reopens Sep 24.

CROW Visitor Education Center will be closed Sep 6 thru 10 for fall cleaning. They will reopen Sep 13 and are offering some new presentations. Tours are available Monday thru Friday at 11 a.m. with masks required. Each tour is limited to eight people (over the age of 13) and advance registration is required. More info at http://www.CROWClinic.org.

J.N. “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge – Wildlife Drive, Bailey Tract, and Tarpon Bay Explorers will be open on Labor Day, while the Visitor & Education Center, the Nature Store, and all administrative offices will be closed Monday. Reminder: The Visitor & Education Center and Refuge Nature Store currently are closed every Friday and Sunday because of staff shortages due to the pandemic. Wildlife Drive closes every Friday throughout the year. Restrooms remain open.

COVID-19 Update

Florida continues to report a record-number of COVID-19 cases. Locally, the Lee Health System is maxed out with a temporary suspension of elective hospital procedures that require an overnight stay. They also have temporary restrictions on hospital visitations. On a more positive note, Lee Health is making its Lee Telehealth service free until further notice. It connects patients with a physician or advanced provider and is available 24/7. The COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment offered locally also is beginning to show good results and is expected to keep the number of hospitalizations down.

According to Lee Health’s website, quarantine is recommended for those who have a known or suspected exposure to COVID-19. During quarantine, you should stay home, away from other people, except for medical care or basic necessities. If you must take care of a family member, they also must quarantine. Quarantine lasts for 14 days – this allows enough time to develop an infection from exposure. Sometimes you may be requested to test during this time, BUT a negative test at any point does not end quarantine sooner,

Isolation is recommended for those who have a suspected COVID infection or receive a 1^st positive test for COVID. You should stay away from people except for medical care or basic necessities. If a family member must take care of you, they will need to quarantine after you are well (or after their last exposure to you while you are on isolation.)  Isolation lasts for at least 10 days. These 10 days begin with your first symptom or positive test (if asymptomatic). This means if you become sick while on quarantine, your 10 days starts at that time – not at the beginning of the quarantine. If you improve and have no fever at the end of the 10 days, isolation may stop. Repeat testing is not recommended.

Here is their COVID-19 update from yesterday, Sept 2, 2021:

“As of today, Lee Health has:

– 596 COVID-19 patients isolated in our hospitals (inpatient).

– Of these patients, 12 of them are children being treated at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.

– Yesterday, we had 60 new COVID-19 hospital admissions and 64 COVID-19 discharges.

– 50% of our ventilators and 3% of our ICU rooms are available for use. We have 86 COVID-19 patients on ventilators and 113 in the intensive care unit.

– This morning, census was at 101% of staffed operational bed capacity.

“OTHER UPDATES:

“For just the second time in the last month, Lee Health has discharged more COVID-19 patients than we’ve admitted over the last 24 hours, and this is the fewest number of COVID-19 patients we are treating since August 20. We hope that this slight downturn will accelerate and continue over the next few weeks.

“While this is promising, we are still not out of the woods. Lee Health hospitals are still at capacity, and we are seeing more patients than ever. This is why it remains as important as ever to get vaccinated if you haven’t already. Widespread vaccination in our community can help prevent another surge like the one we are currently experiencing, especially as we move closer to our seasonal months.

“Lee Health offers COVID-19 vaccines for anyone 12 and older at its walk-in Community Vaccination Clinic, located inside Gulf Coast Medical Center. It’s open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. and there is no cost for the vaccine.”

Nearly 1000 People Moving to Florida Every Day

A Fox 4 post by Cindy Preszler this week says: “We never have to deal with ice or snow. Extreme cold is foreign to us. This is SWFL. The weather is one of the reasons so many people are moving to our state, there are other reasons too but you just can’t beat this stuff.

“The latest stats from snntv.com indicate that nearly 1000 people move here every day and many are coming from northern states like New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. According to move.org, Florida was the most moved to state in 2020.

“And why not? Chick out the weather/climate stats for Fort Myers. The average annual high is 85, and the low is 65… not too hot, not too cool.

“July and August are the hottest months with an average high of 92… it’s rare to see temps in the upper 90’s. Ad when most folks are shivering in January, highs are typically in the 70’s down here.

“Our wettest month is August with almost ten and a half inches on average. But in February and November… oh it’s so beautiful… not even two inches typically falls.”

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity August 27-September 3, 2021

Sanibel

CONDOS

2 new listings: Breakers West #C2 2/2 $749K, Breakers West #C4 2/2 $749K.

No price changes.

2 new sales: Blind Pass #C110 2/2 listed at $539K, Sundial #C308 1/1 listed at $575K.

6 closed sales: Sundial #I103 1/1 $500K, Mariner Pointe #712 2/2.5 $620K, Mariner Pointe #631 2/2 $685K,  Gulf Beach #106 2/2 $893K (our listing), Sanddollar #C101 2/2 $1.15M, Somerset #D202 3/2 $1.7M.

HOMES

3 new listings: 719 Durion Ct 3/2 $1.025M, 5880 San-Cap Rd 3/2 listed at $1.35M, 2480 Harbour Ln 3/3.5 listed at $1.9645M.

2 price changes: 4771 Tradewinds Dr 3/3 now $2.99M, 1146 Golden Olive 5/4 now $2,999,999.

2 new sales: 5747 Pine Tree Dr 3/3 listed at $1.799M, 4949 Joewood Dr 5/5 listed at $4.295M

3 closed sales: 1702 Bunting Ln 4/3 $749.5K, 565 Lake Murex Cir 3/2 $899K, 2367 Wulfert Rd 3/3.5 $1.85M (our sale).

LOTS

Nothing to report.

Captiva

CONDOS, HOMES & 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 weekend!

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan