SanibelSusan reporting another nice week for The SanibelSusan Team with terrific weather too – bright blue skies, no rain (saving that for this weekend), and lower temperatures. Fall weather in Florida certainly differs from that in my home state of Maine, but is especially nice, particularly this week.

Here in the office, our gulf-front listing at Sanibel Arms closed Tuesday, we completed some action items with other closings, and another big bulk postcard mailing went out advertising our new Lindgren Blvd canal-front listing.

Though there was no island Association of Realtors® Caravan meeting this week, this morning I attended a Brokers’ Roundtable where Association Officers and Board Members received input from local company leaders on two issues: “Coming Soon” listings and recent delays in Sanibel’s permitting process and Planning Department.

After a couple of news items below, are the details on the action posted since last Friday in the Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service.

First a summary of the island residential inventory today (also from the Sanibel/Captiva MLS). Note that sales this year are in record numbers. It is the first time in my 30 years here that more properties have sold in nine months than in any other year (counting all 12 months). The first table shows both islands, followed by the individual island details. Included are units for sale today, those under contract, those sold/closed through today, total sales in all of 2020, total sales in all of 2005 (the most recent high sales year).  Note: Residential properties include condos, homes (single-family & half-duplex), and vacant lots.

Status	SANIBEL & CAPTIVA
	All residential properties
	#	Avg $
For sale	82	1,939,593
Under contract	59	1,460,247
Sold 2021 to 10/8	679	1,160,251
Sold 2020	578	959,903
Year Most Sold 2005	636	923,976

 

Status	SANIBEL						CAPTIVA
	Condos		Homes		Lots		Condos		Homes		Lots
	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $
For sale	25	917,565	25	2,518,139	21	704,238	3	1,496,666	8	6,734,375	0	N/A
Under contract	13	751,100	30	1,592,948	5	476,376	7	1,846,571	4	3,323,499	0	N/A
Sold 2021 to 10/8	238	862,475	295	1,327,359	62	734,346	48	1,118,977	34	2,524,434	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
Yr Most Sold 2005	232	758,507	260	1,028,584	68	496,726	45	863,642	31	2,309,758	0	N/A

South Seas Island Resort Sells for $50.38 Million

South Seas Island Resort on the northern tip of Captiva Island recently sold for $50.38 million. The Timbers Company, Wheelock Street Capital and the Ronto Group teamed together to purchase the property from BRE/South Seas Resort Owner LLC, which is part of Blackstone investment management company. Blackstone had purchased the resort in 2006 for $23.4 million.

The 330-acre South Seas resort takes up about a third of the northern tip of Captiva. With over 430 units ranging from hotel guestrooms and suites, to condos, homes and cottages, there are ~20 swimming pools, a pool complex, beachfront golf, tennis, a full-service spa, and restaurants.

The new owner efforts begin with property spruce-ups including painting and landscaping. Over the next six months, the workforce that has been living on the property will be relocated to off-island housing. The new owners are expected to eventually tear down and redevelop the existing workforce housing. Resort workforce also is projected to grow by about 20% from the current number of about 220 employees.

Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) Terminal Expansion Project Begins

A recent news release from Lee County Port Authority announced that the Lee County Board of Port Commissioners authorized the construction and total budget for the Terminal Expansion Project at RSW. The $331-million project focuses on improving the airport’s efficiency by consolidating and streamlining security checkpoints, adding concession space, and providing passengers more amenities and options.

The project begins this month and construction is planned for three years. This expansion is the second largest public works project in Lee County history, only surpassed by the airport Midfield Terminal Complex construction completed in 2005.

Plans for the project include consolidating the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints into a new 16-lane configuration and providing additional seating, concession spaces and a business lounge. In total, more than 164,000 sq. ft. of space will be remodeled, and 117,000 sq. ft. of new walkways and concession space added.

RSW is an award-winning medium-hub airport that served nearly 6 million passengers in 2020 and had record-breaking traffic this summer. For more info, visit httP://www.flyclcpa.com/RSWTerminalExpansion.

Lee County COVID-19 Update

Posted on-line today: “A statement from Lee Health President & CEO Dr. Larry Antonucci on current COVID-19 trends: “For the first time since July 16, Lee Health is treating fewer than 100 COVID-19 patients in our hospitals, down from a peak of 690 on August 25. The previous peak was 372 in July of 2020….”

Protect Yourself from Wire Fraud

Florida Realtor® October magazine had some advice about protecting yourself from wire fraud. As it mentions, “Criminals comb through sites looking for pending property sales. Once identified they will find contact information for the parties involved in the transaction. It is easy to do through public websites and online searches. Then, they hack into an agent or title company email system, monitor communications, and when the time is right, send a fraudulent email that looks like it’s from a trusted advisor. That email will offer falsified wire transfer instructions to steal mortgage payoff funds, a down payment or closing costs.

“How Can You Avoid Being a Victim?

“1. Be Skeptical – Beware of any changes in wiring instructions like those that have you wire money to a company that is not the same name as the title company you’re using.

“2. Ask for Phone Calls – Ask for all wire transfer instructions to be delivered to you via phone with the number listed on the title company’s website. If you receive an email that details changes in the wire transfer instructions and that email contains a phone number, don’t call it.

“3. Verify All Communications – Call the title company immediately after you send any funds via wire transfer to verify it right away. This check-in will give you the confirmation that you sent the funds to the appropriate account and the confidence and peace of mind that the transaction wasn’t real estate fraud.

“4. Confirm the Details – Ask your bank to confirm the account number as well as the name listed on the account before sending a wire transfer.

“5. Lean to Spot a Fraudulent Email – There are telltale signs that an email is a fraud. Look for misspellings, poor grammar and mistakes in the content. Many times, the property address is spelled incorrectly, dollar figures are missing dollar signs, and the return email address doesn’t match, or the company name is spelled incorrectly.

“If you are a victim of a wire fraud crime in Florida, call the Attorney General’s Fraud Hotline at (866) 966-7226. You also should file a complaint with the FBI. FBI Field Office locations are listed at fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices.”

Seller Property Disclosure

Good reminder in the October 2021 issue of “Florida Realtor®” magazine under the column “Advice from the Florida Realtors® Legal Hotline:

“Question: I represent an investor who is selling a home. He tells me that since he’s never lived in the property, he isn’t required to provide the buyer with a seller property disclosure statement. Is this true?

“Yes and no. A seller isn’t required to fill out a seller’s disclosure statement regardless of whether the seller occupied the property or not. However, pursuant to the Florida Supreme Court case Johnson vs. Davis, a seller is required to disclose know facts that materially affect the value of the property that are not known and readily observable to the buyer. That disclosure requirement exists whether the seller occupied the property or not.”

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity October 1-8, 2021

Sanibel

CONDOS

6 new listings: Spanish Cay #F8 2/2 $479K, Villa Sanibel #1D 2/2 $799K, Oceans Reach #4C1 2/2 $899K, Nutmeg Village #109 2/2 $1.299M, Tarpon Beach #110 2/2 $1.4999M, Pointe Santo #E37 3/3 $1.699M.

No price changes.

2 new sales: Sundial #D304 1/1 listed at $579K, Sandpiper Beach #404 2/2 $929K.

4 closed sales: Captains Walk #B5 2/1 $390K, Beach Road Villas #101 2/2 $515K, Sanibel Arms #F3 1/1 $605K (our listing), Gulf Beach #207 2/2 $1.085M.

HOMES

2 new listings: 696 Sea Oats Dr 3/2 $868K, 4239 Gulf Pines Dr 3/2 $949K.

No price changes.

5 new sales: 2539 Coconut Dr 2/2 $1.1M, 4221 Old banyan Way 3/2 $1.279M, 941 Kings Crown Dr 4/3 $1.35M, 5880 Sanibel-Captiva Rd 3/2 $1.35M, 547 N. Yachtsman Dr 4/3 $1.399M.

5 closed sales: 754 Donax St 4/2 duplex $599K, 4760 Rue Helene 3/2 $1.35M, 528 Kinzie Island Ct 4/4 $1.88M, 5379 Shearwater Dr 4/3 $2.1M, 4601 Rue Belle Mer 3/2 $3.5M.

LOTS

1 new listing: 4767 Tradewinds Dr $2.395M.

1 price change: 845 Pyrula Ave now $500K.

1 new sale: Rue Bayou, lot 17 listed at $699K.

1 closed sale: 5398 Osprey Ct $280K.

Captiva

CONDOS

No new listings or price changes.

1 new sale: Beach Villas #2626 1/1 listed at $684K.

No closed sales.

HOMES

No new listings.

1 price change: 15261 Captiva Dr 4/4.5 now $10.995M.

No new or 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.

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

Until next Friday, Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan