Following another week with mostly sunshine, it has been unusual for early September to still see clear bright blue water around the island and on either side of the causeway. Florida certainly has been lucky this year with few storms and little runoff to stir things up.

But just as I was starting to put this together yesterday afternoon, clouds rolled in and I could hear booming off-island. It continued for about an hour when a huge downpour hit Sanibel’s East End resulting in the first big puddles of the summer, plus lots of lightning and flooding inland.

Wednesday, I saw an interesting post by weatherman Matt Devitt. He advised that “there is a large plume of Saharan dust on the way for the Caribbean, parts of Florida and the Gulf into this weekend and next week. The rounds of Saharan dust and the powerful El Nino have led to so far to the lowest tropical activity for the Atlantic in a least 76 years (1950). On that note, no tropical development is expected the next seven days too.”

Yesterday was the peak of hurricane season (which is June 1 through November 30 in Florida). Fingers crossed that the end arrives storm free.

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors

Dr Thomas Millins, the principal at The Sanibel School, was the guest speaker at the Association’s Open Caravan Meeting yesterday. Some highlights he reported are that student population is up to 212 students (from 167). (Forty percent do not live on the island.) School focus is on academics, community, safety, and family. The School will be hosting a variety of events through the year, including an alumni one in January.

There were no properties signed up for the Open Caravan that was scheduled to follow the meeting. September usually is the last off-season month for every-other-week caravans with properties in any island location. Starting in October, provided new listings pick up, these meetings likely will revert to weekly and properties will alternate each week between East End and West End.

Florida Ranks Among Top 10 States To Live In

Recently posted on Florida Realtors: “Florida ranked No. 10 nationally in WalletHub’s latest analysis, buoyed by strong scores for quality of life, safety and the economy…Florida ranked…with its strongest showing in quality of life, where it placed No. 3 nationally. The state also ranked No. 11 for safety and No. 17 for its economy. The personal finance company compared states across 51 measures covering affordability, the economy, education and health, quality of life and safety. … Florida’s housing costs remain on the higher side nationally, with WalletHub ranking the state fourth-highest in the county, behind Nevada, Hawaii, and California….”

Sanibel School Events

The Seahorse Chorale performed at the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony this morning at The Community House.

Tomorrow morning, Saturday September 12, the Seahorse Chorale also will be holding a car wash at Bank of the Islands from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise funds for future singing opportunities.

Also tomorrow, the Sanibel School PTA is sponsoring a “Slice of Paradise” at the Sanibel Recreation Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with pizza and swimming. So opportunity to get a clean car at the bank then to the Rec Center for pizza.

Island Real Estate Scoop

Looking at the residential real estate activity posted in the SanCap MLS since last Friday, there has been just one residential sale, a Captiva condo.

During the same time, there have been two new residential listings and five 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	105	889,603	288	92	1,690,423,	196	48	1,238,134	374
Under contract	4	1,626,250	361	18	1,398,500	188	2	369,000	203
Sold to 9/11/26	93	825,720	188	181	1,514,431	151	12	1,698,666	237
Sold 2025	104	755,564	153	159	1,291,016	140	7	952,857	252
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

 

CAPTIVA Residential	CONDOS			HOMES			LOTS
	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM	#	Avg Price	DOM
For sale	23	1,695,908	272	27	5,734,407	332	4	10,662,500	52
Under contract	2	1,497,000	121	0	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A
Sold to 9/11/26	28	986,482	121	9	4,022,222	244	0	N/A	N/A
Sold 2025	16	931,187	214	12	2,480,375	90	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

Sanibel & Captiva Islands Multiple Listing Service Activity September 4-11

Sanibel

CONDOS

1 new listing: Seashells #4 2/2 $489.9K.

1 price change: Seascape #102 3/3 now $2.299M.

No new sales.

1 closed sale: Sundial #H208 1/1 $467.5K.

HOMES

1 new listing: 1901 Sanibel Bayous Rd 3/3 $1.495M.

3 price changes: 1377 Sand Castle Rd 4/3 now $557K, 974 Greenwood Ct S (1/2 duplex) 3/2.5 now $625K, 1146 Golden Olive Ct 4/4.5 now $2.595M.

No new sales.

3 closed sales: 1379 Albatross Rd 3/2.5 $1.025M, 1550 Wilton Ln 3/2.5 $1.125M, 979 Whelk Dr 3/3 $1.2M.

LOTS

Nothing to report.

Captiva

CONDOS

No new listings.

1 price change: Gulf Beach Villas #2121 3/3 now $950K.

1 new sale: Marina Villas #802 2/2 listed at $735K.

No closed sales.

HOMES & 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 in any way responsible for the accuracy. Data maintained by the association, or its MLS, may now 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,

Susan Andrews, aka SanibelSusan