It was a quiet Christmas week here on sunny Sanibel. With roadways often vehicle-free and most gulf-front accommodations still not open, the contractor vehicles seem to outnumber the holiday visitors. Now that FEMA-funded debris removal is over and Lighthouse Beach has reopened, there is continued evidence of storm recovery progress, albeit slowly. Seeing 2024 in the rear view mirror will be a plus!

Island Weather

Meanwhile, southwest Florida weather remains some of the best in the nation. Daytime temperatures have been in the mid-70’s (degrees F) with colder days not forecast until after the New Year. The few bikers and joggers are usually in shorts, while we locals enjoy the rare use of our sweaters and jackets. It has been a little overcast today, but 78 degrees mid-afternoon.

Re-opening & Holiday Sightings

During my island travels yesterday, it was nice to see another business has opened. At 2400 Palm Ridge Rd, in the corner of the building that formerly was ReMax of the Islands, the new shop is Bubby Latitude.

This home décor and gift store was in Bell Tower after Hurricane Ian and is back on-island in this new location – open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon through Sat.

Palm Ridge Rd also gets my vote for some of the cutest outdoor holiday decorations. If you get a chance check them out in front of Pak-n-Ship, John Grey Painting, Landgraphics, and Kingfisher.

There are a surfing Santa, several Christmas pelicans, an alligator bearing gifts, a minion, and a pink octopus.

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors

The local Association of Realtors did not meet this week, but it was great last Saturday to see many colleagues at the Celebration of Life for our Realtor pal, Mary Lou Bailey. The stories shared and memories highlighted were a tribute to her island success for more than 45 years.

The next Association Caravan Meetings will be Jan 9 and 23, with new listings open for viewing beginning at noon. We also look forward to the annual Installation and Awards Banquet, on Jan 15.

Sanibel & Captiva Real Estate Scoop

Again, it was a week with more new and back-on-market listings and price reductions than sales. Just three new Sanibel sales were reported, a duplex and two unique high-end homes.

It is probably a little soon to compare 2024 sales to past years, but several conversations this week with owners thinking of selling, made it hard not to relay that what we are experiencing here now is a serious post-hurricane dip in the market.

For years, we looked at larger communities and complexes as bellwethers. Below is where a few of those stand today, compared to the last few years. First are a few Sanibel residential communities showing number of homes for sale, under contract, and the number of home sales by year,

Then similar data for a few of the larger island condominium complexes. (Data from Sanibel & Captiva Islands MLS 12/27/24) (Also note: Pointe Santo and Sundial are not yet open for paying guests and have not been since late 2022.)

The statistics illustrate that even after the pandemic which began in late 2019/early 2020, Sanibel real estate was moving well. A whopping 355 homes and 287 condos closed in 2021.

Then came Ian in 2022, followed by Helene and Milton. This year when compared to 2021, not even half the number of homes sold and just a quarter the number of condos.  When economists say it likely will take a few more years for the market to rebound, I agree.

That’s not to say, don’t list if you want to sell. The SanibelSusan Team is always looking forward to new listings and ways to get existing listings sold, just like we are always looking for new buyers. There are some excellent offerings out there for today’s buyers, but finding buyers is challenging.

 A week with 30 island listings and price changes, and just three sales, doesn’t help.

Sanibel # For Sale	# for Sale	# Under Contract	Sold to 12/27/24	Sold 2023	Sold 2022	Sold 2021	Sold 2020	Sold 2019	Sold 2018	Sold 2017
HOMES:
The Dunes	15	0	20	29	18	29	39	18	29	20
Gumbo Limbo	9	1	7	12	6	21	16	11	6	12
The Sanctuary	8	1	6	6	7	14	10	13	5	3
Sanibel Estates	10	1	10	10	6	13	16	7	13	11
Shell Harbor	17	1	6	27	13	18	18	11	11	13
All Communities	186	16	163	263	185	355	289	211	218	186
CONDOS
Loggerhead Cay	3	0	7	4	5	14	13	7	16	11
Pointe Santo	3	0	1	3	7	25	4	3	3	4
Sanibel Moorings	8	0	4	0	5	7	5	3	7	4
Sundial	9	0	12	16	14	30	26	20	20	22
All Complexes	116	4	75	98	123	287	193	127	155	140

Below, with data from the islands Multiple Listing Service (MLS) are summary tables of the residential sales statistics, followed by the Sanibel/Captiva MLS action reported this week.

SANIBEL RESIDENTIAL	CONDOS			HOMES			LOTS
	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM
For sale:	116	990,232	134	186	2,004,848	98	32	1,014,837	253
Under contract	4	1,373,750	183	16	1,569,406	15	0	N/A	N/A
Sold to 12/27/24	75	818,493	117	163	1,476,319	115	15	1,403,533	192
Sold 2023	98	955,261	65	263	1,267,390	73	24	920,645	76
Sold 2022	123	1,136,199	44	185	1,602,745	52	26	779,528	223
Sold 2021	287	875,127	113	355	1,341,881	89	69	698,862	442

CAPTIVA RESIDENTIAL	CONDOS			HOMES			LOTS
	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM
For sale:	35	1,214,457	168	22	6,597,545	241	1	12M	484
Under contract	0	N/A	N/A	1	999,999	34	0	N/A	N/A
Sold to 12/27/24	13	1,728,846	185	8	4,887,187	182	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2022	28	1,458,983	52	22	5,636,386	133	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2021	64	1,150,373	145	44	2,988,520	261	2	2,950,000	731

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity Dec 20-27:

Sanibel

CONDOS

7 new listings: Spanish Cay #F6 1/1 $475K, Donax Village #11 2/2 $625K, Sunset South #10A 2/2 $659K, Loggerhead Cay #142 2/2 $987.5K, Kings Crown #217 2/2 $1.599M, High Tide #B101 3/2 $2.495M, Seascape #102 3/3 $3M.

1 price change: Tennisplace #D31 1/1 now $369K.

No new sales.

1 closed sale: Sanibel Moorings #1342 2/2 $840K.

HOMES

8 new listings: 1312 Par View Dr 3/2 $1.089M, 1965 Roseate Ln 3/2 $1.199M, 9067 Mockingbird Dr 3/2 $1.199M, 734 Anchor Dr 3/2 $1.2M, 755 Pen Shell Dr 3/2 $1.475M, 1508 Middle Gulf Dr 3/4 $1.695M, 2450 Wulfert Rd 4/3 $1.895M, 4039 West Gulf Dr 3/4 $4.975M.

7 back-on-market: 9225 Belding Dr 3/2 $550K, 1731 Serenity Ln 4/3 $750K, 3744 West Gulf Dr 4//4 $1.849M, 1507 Angel Dr 3/2.5 $1.95M, 4988 Joewood Dr 4/4 $2.45M, 408 Bella Vista Way E 4/4 $3.484M, 542 Kinzie Island Ct 3/4.5 $3.489M.

2 price changes: 4560 Brainard Bayou Rd 3/2 now $849K, 5309 Umbrella Pool Rd 3/3 now $890K (SanibelSusan listing).

3 new sales: 1712 Sand Pebble Way (duplex) 4/2 listed at $599K, 5606 Baltusrol Ct 5/6 listed at $3.195M, 6195 Henderson Rd 3/3.5 listed at $3.495M.

No closed sales.

LOTS

No new listings.

1 back on market: 3730 Coquina Dr $499K.

1 price change: 4801 Tradewinds Dr now $1.98M.

No new or closed sales.

CAPTIVA

CONDOS

No new listings.

1 back-on-market: Lands End #1666 3/3 $2.485M.

No price changes, new or closed sales.

HOMES

No new listings.

1 back-on-market: 14865 Mango Ct 2/2 $1.595M.

1 price change: 15153 Captiva Dr 3/3 now $5.898M.

No new sales.

1 closed sale: 1119 Schefflera Ct 5/4.5 $9.675M.

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.