It has been another busy real estate week for The SanibelSusan Team. We are thankful for two more closings, a couple of meetings with owners thinking of selling, and that the chilly island weather (coldest here in four years) is behind us. Forecasters reported yesterday that SW FL was the warmest area in the nation with 85 degrees F – exactly why Florida is so popular in the winter!

(Photo below of view from our listing at Sanibel Moorings #122. It is one of only 13 condos currently for sale on Sanibel.)

The activity since last Friday posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service follows a couple of new items below. First a summary of island inventory today with that info also from islands MLS. Just 51 properties are for sale in total on both islands – including condos, homes, and lots. The market remains hot hot hot!

Status	SANIBEL						CAPTIVA
	Condos		Homes		Lots		Condos		Homes		Lots
	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $	#	Avg $
For sale	13	1,181,846	12	2,541,500	16	541,437	4	2,122,250	6	7,881,666	0	N/A
Under contract	26	1,082,203	37	2,081,483	9	778,333	4	1,540,750	6	4,346,500	0	N/A
Sold to-date 2022	16	956,000	23	1,423,782	2	690,500	2	1,012,500	1	4,794,500	0	N/A
Sold 2021	287	875,127	355	1,341,881	69	698,862	64	1,150,373	44	2,988,520	2	2,950,000

The Sky is Falling

From Perfection Lawn & Pest Control’s January/February newsletter with some iguana info:

“Green scaly, invaders are stomping all over Florida cities and causing problems. It’s not Godzilla terrorizing the Sunshine State, it’s iguanas and they’re overtaking the environment. When temperatures drop, so do green iguanas – from the trees. But evolution, it seems, could be changing their tolerance to the cold.

“Research shows some species of lizards have grown more tolerant of cold temperatures. It also could mean fewer images on social media of iguanas lying on their backs under trees, legs in the air, stunned until warm sunshine gets their bodies moving again.

“As recently as four years ago, most of South Florida’s common lizard species could tolerate temperatures between 46 and 52 degrees. Now, they hold up to temperatures as low as 44 degrees, according to a study done by a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis.

“Iguanas are invasive, propagate profusely and wreak havoc on homes, gardens, sidewalks, pool decks, seawalls, boats and anywhere else they eat and, well, poop.

“Don’t think they are dead and discard or bury them when you see them lying on the ground under trees; they revive when the weather warms up.”

Mortgage Rates Remain Stable This Week at 3.55%

Posted yesterday on-line at FloridaRealtors® and sourced to the Associated Press, by Matt Ott, the following article is noteworthy, because economic news affects real estate sales, regardless of whether buyers get financing. In a “hot market”, the strongest offers remain those with no contingencies.

“After a notable increase for a few weeks, the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage stopped rising, remaining relatively flat for three weeks.

“WASHINGTON (AP) – Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates were flat for a third straight week after rising about a half percent early in the year.

“The average rate on the 30-year loan held at 3.55% from last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday. It stood at 2.73% a year ago.

“The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, popular among those refinancing their homes, fell to 2.77% from 2.80% last week. One year ago, the rate was 2.21%.

“Though they remain historically low, home loan rates have been rising to levels not seen since early 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was breaking in the U.S.

“Last week, the Fed signaled that it would begin a series of interest rate hikes in March, reversing pandemic-era policies that have fueled hiring and growth, but also adding to inflation levels not seen in some 40 years. Earlier this month, the government reported that inflation spiked to 7% in December from a year earlier, the sharpest increase in four decades. In addition, the Labor Department reported that prices at the wholesale level surged by a record 9.7% last month from December 2020.

“The Fed’s upcoming rate hike – or hikes – will likely make it more expensive to borrow for a home, car or business. Also Thursday, the government reported that applications for unemployment benefits fell for the second week in a row after three straight weeks of increases that economists blamed on the surging omicron variant of COVID-19.

“The Commerce Department reported last week that the nation’s gross domestic product – its total output of goods and services – expanded 5.7% in 2021, the strongest calendar-year growth since a 7.2% surge in 1984. In the fourth quarter, the economy grew at an unexpectedly brisk 6.9% annual pace.

“Available housing has been hard to come by since long before the pandemic started, and rising prices are making it even harder for homebuyers to secure a new home. Economists expect rising interest rates to add to house hunters’ dismay.”

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity January 28‑February 4, 2022

Sanibel

CONDOS

2 new listings: Sanibel Moorings #1411 1/1 $525K, Cyprina Beach #8 2/2.5 $1.595M.

No price changes.

6 new sales: Cottage Colony West #119 1/1 listed at $589.9K; Loggerhead Cay #242 2/2 listed at $765K; Loggerhead Cay #351 2/2 listed at $824K; Sanibel Moorings #1332 2/2 listed at $874,999; Shell Island Beach Club #A5 2/2 listed at $1.2M; Sedgemoor #101 3/3.5 listed at $3.995M.

6 closed sales: Dugger’s Tropical Cottages #1 1/1 $452K, Donax Village #7 2/2 $650K (our listing), Donax Village #17 2/2 $695K, Breakers West #C2 2/2 $700K, Pointe Santo #A26 2/2 $1.35M, Tarpon Beach #110 2/2 $1.35M.

HOMES

2 new listings: 799 Casa Ybel Rd 5/3 duplex $850K, 4636 Bowen Bayou Rd 3/2 $1.725M.

No price changes.

8 new sales: 567 Rabbit Rd 2/2 listed at $789K, 1105 Skiff Pl 3/2 listed at $1.095M, 645 Oliva St 3/3 listed at $1.1M, 606 Boulder Dr listed 3/2 $1.1999M, 593 Lake Murex Cir 3/3 listed at $1.395M, 930 Kings Crown Dr 3/2 listed at $1.795M, 474 Lagoon Dr 3/3.5 listed at $2.495M, 1077 Bird Ln 4/4/2 listed at $5.699M.

8 closed sales: 9217 Dimmick Dr 3/2 $699K, 3702 Coquina Dr 2/2 $850K, 644 Lake Murex Cir 3/2 $869K, 4285 Gulf Pines Dr 3/2 $900K (our buyer), 1195 Sand Castle Rd 3/2.5 $1.25M, 543 Boulder Dr 3/2 $1.265M, 979 Whelk Dr 3/2.5 $1.6M, 2391 Wulfert Rd 4/5 $2.35M.

LOTS

3 new listings: 535 Leather Fern Pl $275K, 2486 Wulfert Rd $229K, 490 Sea Oats Dr $699K.

No price changes.

2 new sales: 2310 Wulfert Rd listed at $299K, 544 Lake Murex Cir listed at $699K.

1 closed sale: 0 Rue Bayou $699K.

Captiva

CONDOS

2 new listings: Marina Villas #709 2/2 $1.195M, Captiva Hide-a-Way #1A 2/2 $1.35M.

No price changes.

2 new sales: Bayside Villas #5210 1/2 listed at $499K, Beach Homes #2 3/3 listed at $3.395M.

No closed sales.

HOMES

No new listings or price changes.

2 new sales: 11529 Andy Rosse Ln 4/4 listed at $3.495M, 15855 Captiva Dr 4/3.5 listed at $8.795M.

1 closed sale: 16897 Captiva Dr 5/5.5 $4.7945M.

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