Counting Down to 2026 on Sunny Sanibel

Merry day-after Christmas! It’s a bright 77-degree afternoon here on sunny Sanibel.

After our family dinner last night (about 6:30 p.m.), I took a ride down Periwinkle to see the holiday decorations. Viewing twinkling palm trees in December never gets old, with the Sanibel Community Church again this year adding to their spectacular display. There were only a few businesses open then, Huxters and 7-11 both had vehicles and lights on. Otherwise, it was an unusually quiet peaceful drive.

When teammate Dave came on-island this morning to do his Friday rounds, he remarked that he hadn’t seen this much traffic coming on (other than contractor vehicles) since pre-Ian. He said traffic was backed up on the causeway, past the boat ramp and that the waters surrounding the causeway probably had 100 boats within sight.

Grand dog Bella was with him, so after checking our listings, he looked for a beach access that was not packed to take her for a short walk. She loves the water! They stopped at the Buttonwood gulf-beach access, walking toward the Lighthouse. Looking both directions, he said he quickly counted 70 boats and said the gulf waters are beautiful with lots of folks enjoying it.

Watch Out For Winter

The weather this week has been more of the same sunshine and mostly blue skies with daytime temperatures usually high 70’s, some days into the 80’s. That could change the middle of next week with forecasters now predicting that New Years Eve could get as low as 49 degrees with daytime temps not out of the 60’s on both Wednesday and Thursday. Yikes! Time to get out the winter flip flops! Hopefully, it will be back into the 70’s by next Friday.

How’s The Island Real Estate Market?

The team and I are asked that question a lot. As much as we are want new listings and wish we could always say what folks want to hear, we try to always be honest even when it is hard to say that the market is “not good”.  It’s not, but some positives this year were:

• No storms
• Restoration from previous storms continued with more resilient properties now
• Plenty of accommodations ready for visitors, many brand-new
• Beach looking good, many renourished.

Some have asked, “Is the market improving?”

• With homes, it is stabilizing.
• With condos, it may continue to decline before it bounces back. In many cases, condo owners are dealing with less income, higher fees, community/contractor lawsuits, and other closing challenges. Add to that that there are fewer prospective buyers when there are not many visitors here.
• Vacant lot owners are finding that there just are not many buyers looking to build. Building costs are high and when adding the lot cost, it often exceeds the price of resale homes.
• Commercial is a mix. Some business owner are waiting for the islands to be busier before making a change or reopening. On Sanibel, there are 16 commercial properties for sale and just three closed sales this year. Thankfully, one was our listing and sale. No Captiva commercial activity this year.

So, 2026 will be another year of recovery. We look forward to more visitors looking to purchase and the return of the islands as a vacation-land. This real estate business always has cycles. Watch for an eventual upswing in 2026. If today’s traffic is any indication, it could be beginning.

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors

The local Association of Realtors did not meet this week and will be closed next Thursday for the New Year holiday. The next Caravan meeting is the following Thursday, January 8, and will be for East-End properties.

Looking at residential activity posted in the SanCap MLS, since last Friday, there have been five new sales, two Sanibel homes, a Sanibel lot, and a Captiva condo.

During the same time, there were eight new listings and 12 price changes.

Below, with data from the island MLS are summary tables of the residential sales statistics, followed by the details of the MLS action reported this week.

SANIBEL RESIDENTIAL	CONDOS			HOMES				LOTS
	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM		#	Avg Price	DOM
For sale	168	1,058,804	172	230	1,767,551	120		52	1,284,086	269
Under contract	5	628,400	255	18	1,920,333	119		3	724,366	256
Sold to 12/26/25	101	760,383	153	156	1,293,157	143		6	911,666	199
Sold 2024	75	818,493	117	165	1,472,757	114		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	52	1,251,565	225	28	6,484,178	253	3	10,166,666	408
Under contract	3	1,056,333	187	0	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A
Sold to 12/26/25	16	931,187	214	9	1,551,611	121	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2024	13	1,728,846	185	8	4,887,187	182	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2023	17	834,176	98	17	2,716,647	70	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 19-26

Sanibel

CONDOS

3 new listings: Colonnades #17 1/1 $299K, Sanibel Moorings #542 2/2 $749K, Somerset #A202 3/2.5 $1.995M.

1 price change: Sanctuary Golf Villages I #6-PH5 3/3 now $1.175M.

No new sales.

1 closed sale: Lighthouse Point #319 2/2 $575K.

HOMES

3 new listings: 243 Southwinds Dr 4/2.5 $1.495M, 9345 Dimmick Dr 3/3.5 $2.499M, 1332 Eagle Run Dr 5/5 $2.7M.

1 back-on-market: 1266 Par View Dr 4/4 $2.289M.

7 price changes: 996 Greenwood Ct N (1/2 duplex) 3/3 now $775K, 4245 Gulf Pines Dr 3/2 now $995K, 2449 Harbour Ln 2/2 now $1.375M, 720 Durion Ct 4/3 now $1.099M, 979 Whelk Dr 3/3 now $1.695M, 1517 Sand Castle Rd 4/3.5 now $1.995M, 2667 Coconut Dr 3/3 now $1.995M.

2 new sales: 799 Birdie View Pt 3/3 listed at $1.399M, 513 Lighthouse Way 3/3 listed at $2.27M.

3 closed sales: 531 Birdsong Pl 3/2 $513K, 720 Elinor Way 3/2 $1.05M, 5753 Pine Tree Dr 3/4 $1.2M.

LOTS

No new listings.

2 price changes: 967 Fitzhugh St now $200K, 2348 Wulfert Rd now $298K.

No new sale: 4733 Rue Belle Mer listed at $700K.

No closed sales.

CAPTIVA

CONDOS

1 new listing: Beach Villas #2615 2/2 $839K.

2 price changes: Bayside Villas #5122 1/2 now $549K, Beach Villas #2322 1/1 now $595K.

No new sale: Bayside Villas #5340 3/3 listed at $969K.

No closed sales.

HOMES

1 new listing: 15771 Captiva Dr 3/3 $9.5M.

No price changes, 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 in or participated in these transactions.

Enjoy your weekend & Happy New Year!

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan