It’s time for another Friday update from SanibelSusan. Following a semi-chilly first few days, the week here is wrapping up with beautiful sunny weather today – temperatures in the low 70’s.

At SanibelSusan Realty, we had another listing go under contract over the weekend, prepared for a couple of upcoming closings and our big annual mailing which is at the printer. I also met with another owner thinking of selling and spent several hours looking at communities with prospective buyers.

There is little inventory available for actual showings. Those that come on the market, priced right, are getting multiple cash offers, many over asking prices and with few, if any, contract contingencies. It is challenging to be a buyer in this hot sellers’ market. As of this afternoon, on Sanibel, according to the island MLS, there are just 14 condos and 14 homes for sale. Usually in February, there are a hundred plus.

Yesterday at the Association of Realtors® weekly Caravan Meeting, there were no properties open for viewing and no new listings announced. First time that has happened in my 30 years attending those meetings.

Below are a couple of news items, followed by the action since last Friday posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service.

Sanibel City Council to Host Town Hall Workshop

The following was excerpted from an on-line post today by The Community House:

Sanibel City Council has announced a Town Hall Workshop scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Tues, Feb 15, 2022, at the Sanibel Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way.

As Council prepares to conduct a Strategic Planning Retreat in March, they invite Sanibel residents to attend the workshop to offer input about locally controlled issues they deem imperative to the long-range planning for the City.

The two-hour workshop will be divided into three primary areas of discussion:

• Environment
• Community
• Business & City Infrastructure

Meeting Format: Following opening comments by Mayor Holly D. Smith, residents will be provided an opportunity to speak about issues within the primary areas of discussion listed above. Approximately 40 minutes will be allocated for resident input within each area of discussion.

Prior to the workshop, residents may provide City Clerk Scotty Lynn Kelly with position papers, presentations, letters, etc. via email at Scott.Kelly@MySanibel.com. All presentations and submissions will become part of the workshop public record and be used to provide the City Council with detailed information about residents’ concerns and issues. This information can be provided in lieu of speaking during the Town Hall Workshop or as a supplement to public comments.

Speakers must adhere to the following procedures when addressing the City Council:

• Public Comment Cards – All residents who wish to speak at the workshop must fill out a public comment card provided by the City. A fillable and printable public comment card may be accessed by clicking this link; blank public comment cards will also be available at the workshop.
• Order of Speakers – Speakers will be called in the order announced by City Manager Dana Souza, within each individual discussion topic area.
• Recognized Speakers – Only the speaker recognized by the Mayor has the floor and must be at a microphone to speak. Councilmembers may ask clarifying questions of speakers.
• Topics – Speakers should focus on issues, not on persons or personalities.
• Name – All speakers must state their name into the microphone before speaking.
• Time Limit – Length of individual public comments is expected to be five minutes per speaker. City Council reserves the right to limit the length of individual public comments to ensure maximum participation from the public.

Audience members should respect the following meeting rules:

• Sidebar Discussions – Sidebar discussions are not permitted during the Town Hall Workshop. Persons wishing to speak with other members of the public during the workshop should exit the room to hold their conversation.
• Decorum – Anger, rudeness, ridicule, impatience, and lack of respect for others are not acceptable behaviors. Demonstrations in support or opposition to a speaker or idea such as clapping, cheering, booing, hissing, or intimidating body language are not permitted.

Sanibel residents who are not able to attend the workshop may listen to the meeting live on the City’s website www.mysanibel.com.  Click here to access the Feb 15 workshop agenda.

COVID Migration: Who’s Moving to Fla. and Why?

Posted Tuesday on FloridaRealtors® and sourced to “The Palm Beach Post”, by Kimberly Miller

“WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Extraordinary events have forever pushed and pulled and pressured U.S. population shifts, from gold lust to the citrus rush to the restless return of WWII soldiers to revolutions in foreign lands and civil war on southern soil.

“Now there is COVID-19, which has turned a years-long trickle to Florida from the northeast into a deluge. More than 547,000 people exchanged out-of-state driver’s licenses last year for ones with Sunshine State addresses. That’s a 40% increase from 2020 and nearly 20% greater than the five-year average between 2017 and 2021.

The license swaps – largely from New York (11%), New Jersey (6%) and foreign countries (14%) – are acutely felt in Florida real estate markets where inventory is anemic and prices aggressive. The median sale price on Palm Beach County single-family homes ended 2021 at nearly half-a-million dollars with the average price pushing seven figures.

“Demographers believe the relocations are no tropical dalliance because a driver’s license switch is a sign of determination to make Florida home, even if hurricane season and August’s sweltering humidity are spent in cooler climes away from storms and sticky air.

““Unquestionably the COVID impact was the trigger,” said Related Cos. President Ken Himmel about the influx of people and businesses to Florida and Palm Beach County specifically. “Unquestionably, COVID turned the switch on full blast.”

“While the bullseye markets, such as Palm Beach County, may experience the ache of rising rents and home prices until inventory increases, growth experts were reluctant to say the COVID migration on a nationwide scale will make history. Some move to the suburbs was already happening as millennials age. A bump in retirees was also expected, although it was likely expedited by the Great Resignation/Retirement, the euphemism signaling massive waves of frustrated workers and Baby Boomers exiting the job market. Vanderbilt University Assistant Finance Professor Peter Haslag said COVID-related dispersions are more geographically diverse than past migrations, diluting long-term impacts.

“For Florida, migration is tradition. “Migration to Florida is an old story,” said University of Washington professor and historian James Gregory in an article for America’s Great Migrations Project that noted the early 1900s citrus and land boom in the state. “More than any other state, Florida has consistently attracted newcomers.”

Of the 61,728 New Yorkers who in 2021 handed over Empire State driver’s licenses for a Florida license, 19,100 or 31% got IDs with Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach County Zip codes. Palm Beach County accounted for 8,107 of the transplants, the largest share of any county in the state.

“Outside of the Gold Coast counties of southeast Florida, a weighty exchange of New York licenses last year also occurred in Orange (4,203), Hillsborough (3,746), Lee (2,672), Pinellas (2,335) and Sarasota (2,149) counties….”

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity February 4-11, 2022

Sanibel

CONDOS

4 new listings: Captains Walk #C5 2/1 $549K; Mariner Pointe #733 2/2 $699,999; Pointe Santo #B44 2/2 $1.45M; Junonia #301 4/2 $2.99M.

1 price change: Blind Pass #D102 2/2 now $685K.

7 new sales: Sanibel Moorings #1411 1/1 listed at $525K, Sandalfoot #5B1 1/1 listed at $768K, Sanibel Inn #1E 2/2 listed at $850K, Lighthouse Point #112 3/2 listed at $864K, Loggerhead Cay #584 2/2 listed at $895K, Sanibel Moorings #122 2/2 listed at $1.2M (our listing), Compass Point #162 2/2 listed at $1.85M.

5 closed sales: Sundial #C305 1/1 $549,945; Ibis at The Sanctuary#A101 2/2 $669K, Sanibel Moorings #1132 2/2 $803K, Tarpon Beach #106 2/2 $1.06M, Yacht Haven #2 3/2 $1.475M.

HOMES

3 new listings: 320 Palm Lake Dr 2/2 $925K, 2620 West Gulf Dr 3/2 $1.395M, 4972 Joewood Dr 4/3.5 $3.72M.

2 price changes: 885 Limpet Dr 4/3 now $3.25M, 4322 West Gulf Dr 4/3.5 now $3.295M.

7 new sales: 1230 Anhinga Ln 4/2 duplex listed at $699K, 4560 Brainard Bayou 3/2 $829K, 799 Casa Ybel Rd 5/3 duplex listed at $850K, 1398 Jamaica Dr 2/2 listed at $895K, 1053 Seahawk Ln 3/2 listed at $1.195M, 4636 Bowen Bayou Rd 3/2 listed at $1.725M, 2276 Starfish Ln 4/3.5 listed at $2.395M.

3 closed sales: 5307 Ladyfinger Lake Rd 3/3 $840K, 458 Lake Murex Cir 3/2 $935K, 853 Tulip Ln 3/2 $1.735M, 1304 Seaspray Ln 3/2.5 $4.275M.

LOTS

No new listings or price changes.

2 new sales: 1340 Eagle Run Dr listed at $520K, 845 Pyrula Ave listed at $525K.

1 closed sale: 4767 Tradewinds Dr $2.05M.

Captiva

CONDOS

1 new listing: Bayside Villas #5226 1/2 $625K.

No price changes.

1 new sale: Captiva Hide-A-Way #1A 2/2 listed at $1.35M.

1 closed sale: Beach Homes #2 3/3 $3.125M.

HOMES

1 new listing: 11549 Wightman Ln 3/4 $3.395M.

1 price change: 15867 Captiva Dr 7/6 now $11.7M.

1 new sale: 30 Urchin Ct listed at $1.495M.

No closed sale.

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”.

Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday & best wishes for a Happy Valentine’s Day on Monday!

Til next Friday,

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan