It is Susan Andrews (aka SanibelSusan) reporting that it has been another quiet week on the Islands. We breathed a sigh of relief when Tropical Storm Erika dissipated last weekend and didn’t bring much rain to Sanibel and Captiva.

Weather for the long holiday weekend beginning today is expected to be typical of late summer with temperatures in the high 80’s/low 90’s and 20 to 40% chance of rain. The gorgeous summer sunsets continue, but island occupancy is down as it usually is in September.

Below are a few news items, followed by the action posted in the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® MLS over the last seven days.

SanibelSusan Realty Associates

This week, several of our listings had showings, I met with owners about future listings, and we worked on several fall marketing projects.

Yesterday, we had an Association of Realtors® Caravan Meeting. Attendance was light and only three properties were on caravan (one our new listing at Compass Point). No new listings were announced and no price reductions.

Much of the meeting chatter was about inventory. It has been another good year for island real estate sales, making some wonder if we will have enough real estate to sell this winter. Here is an update of that inventory:

SANIBEL

• Condos – just 76 for sale with 121 sold/closed this year & another 14 under contract. Average sale price up 5% over last year when 165 condos sold.
• Homes – just 89 for sale with 188 sold/closed this year & another 26 under contract. Average sale price up 6% over last year when 206 homes sold.
• Lots – 65 for sale with 34 sold/closed this year & another 4 under contract. Average sale price down 5% over last year when 27 lots sold.

CAPTIVA

• Condos – just 38 for sale with 28 sold/closed this year & another one under contract. Average sale price up 45% (because most of the sales this year were high-end condos at Lands End Village). Last year 22 condos sold.
• Homes – just 39 for sale with 19 sold/closed this year & another one under contract. Average sale price up 14% over last year when 23 homes sold.
• Lots – just 3 for sale with 2 sold/closed this year & another 2 under contract. None sold last year.

(This representation is based, in whole, or in part, on data supplied by the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® or its 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 general real estate activity in the community and does not imply that SanibelSusan Realty Associates is participating or participated in these transactions.)

One more Association of Realtors® meeting is scheduled in September, then two in October before we go back to the “season” schedule of every Thursday morning, with Caravans alternating between east-end and west-end properties. Listed properties are allowed on Caravan only once in a 6-month period.

Over 10-Year View, Home Sales Are Strong

It is not just here where inventory is down. The below article was posted Tuesday on-line at “Daily Real Estate News”:

“The National Association of REALTORS® finds that July 2015 existing-home sales are markedly higher than the 10-year July average. The 10-year average is an average of the data from the past 10 July months.

“Regionally, the Northeast was the only area of the country slightly below its 10-year average, while all other regions showed stronger sales. The Midwest and South were up above average by more than 15% and the West has risen 9%, according to NAR.

“The median home price is also higher than the 10-year average. In its 10-year review, NAR says home prices nationally began to drop in 2006 in some regions and 2007 nationally but did not see the biggest drop until around 2009.

“”The trend for median home prices turned around completely in 2012, all regions and the U.S. saw their lowest July median price in 2011,” NAR notes on its blog Economists’ Outlook. Since then, home prices have been on the rise.

“A shortage of homes for-sale continues to persist in the current market. There are fewer homes available for sale this July than the 10-year July average.

“”In 2005, the U.S. had the fastest pace of homes sold relative to the inventory taking 4.6 months,” NAR notes. “In 2010, the U.S. had the slowest pace taking 11.9 months to sell the supply of homes on the market.” The 10-year July average in supply is 7.7 compared to this July, which is at a 4.8-month supply.”

Another Annual Renovation Project – “Ding” Darling Visitor & Education Center

Renovations begin on September 8 to the entrance and front-desk area of the “Ding” Darling Visitor & Education Center. During the two weeks that it will take to complete the improvements, the Center will remain open with visitors redirected to another entrance.

NAR Survey: Realtors® Plan to Extend Closing Dates

Following up on my blog posting last week about the upcoming federally-mandated changes regarding real estate closings for residential property with mortgages, the article below was posted on-line this week on FloridaRealtors®.

“A new National Association of Realtors® (NAR) survey finds that more than 50% of real estate agents plan to extend sales contracts and build in more time for closings due to the Oct. 3 implementation of new mortgage disclosures.

“Currently, the HUD-1 settlement form can be revised and delivered up to the day of settlement. By contrast, the new Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure (TRID) that goes into effect Oct. 3 must be finalized and in the borrower’s hands three days prior to closing.

“Failure to meet that deadline can result in a re-issuance of the closing disclosure and another three-day waiting period.

“”When asked about their plans to deal with the new TRID rules, 55.9% of Realtors plan to change their purchase agreements to reflect a longer timeline, while 31.2% will add contingencies to the contract,” says NAR based on the research.

“Florida Realtors plans to update its contracts on Sept. 28, 2015, in preparation for the October change. The association currently has the updated contracts posted online in a redline version that graphically shows the changes.

“The poll did not specifically ask how long a Realtor would extend a sales contract, and there appears to be no consensus on the issue. “Based on a handful of anecdotes, some (Realtors) are adding 15 days to a 30-day contract and others are opting for the 60-day contract,” says Ken Fears, NAR’s director of regional economics and housing finance. The NAR study also found that 82% of agents have taken some type of training to prepare for the TRID regime that takes effect Oct. 3….”

Good News About Lake O – Local Estuary Sitting at Good Levels

Below is some positive news about the rainy season this year, as posted in the “Santiva Chronicle” on Wednesday:

“A little more rain is needed, but Lake Okeechobee is at an acceptable level right now, which is good news for Sanibel Island and its estuary.

““For the majority of this year’s rainy season flows have been within the optimal range for the estuary,” James Evans, Sanibel Natural Resources director, said regarding the balance between fresh and salt water.

This balance has been maintained although rainfall on the east side of the state has been much lower than in Southwest Florida. The Southwest Florida Water Management District, which oversees the water resources in the southern half of Florida in 16 counties from Orlando to the Keys, reported Tuesday, Sept. 1, that the remnants of tropical systems Danny and Erika helped lift August rainfall to near average in much of the district.

““The Army Corps of Engineers tries to maintain Lake Okeechobee between 12.5 and 15.5 feet. Right now it’s at 13.08 feet. It has come up about a half-foot in the past week,” Evans said. “That’s a good thing,” he said. “The lake is 1.38 feet below where it was last year, but it is well within the management band that the Corps of Engineers would like to maintain.

““We would like to see the level of the lake come up a bit more before the end of the rainy season so that we have water for supplemental flows to the estuaries and to make sure that all the urban and agricultural needs can be met, but it is trending in the right direction.”

“Despite several days of rain at the end of the month, Martin, St. Lucie, Broward and Miami-Dade counties all got less than average rainfall in August.

“Evans said the city and the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation are watching flows coming into the local estuary from the Caloosahatchee watershed and those flows “are a bit higher than we would like to see.” “More rain out over the lake between now and October without an excess amount falling within the local watershed would be ideal,” Evans, who recently coauthored a comprehensive report on the Caloosahatchee watershed for the city, said.”

Sanibel & Captiva Multiple Listing Service Activity August 28-September 4

Sanibel

CONDOS

1 new listing: Village of Sanibel #R1 3/2.5 $449K.

No price changes.

2 new sales: Sundial #H303 2/2 listed at $589K, Signal Inn #18 3/2 listed at $1.089M.

3 closed sales: Colonnades #11 1/1 $210K, Captains Walk #C7 1/1 $205K, Captains Walk #F3  2/1.5 $278K.

HOMES

4 new listings: 3965 Coquina Dr 2/2 $330K, 5267 Ladyfinger Lake Rd 3/2 $895K, 1555 San Carlos Bay Dr 3/2.5 $1.1M, 4428 Waters Edge Ln 3/2.5 $1.25M.

4 price changes: 9012 Mockingbird Dr 3/2 now $539K, 1024 S Yachtsman Dr 3/2 duplex now $559.5K, 887 Casa Ybel Rd 4/3 duplex now $689K, 1328 Seaspray Ln 4/4 now $875K.

4 new sales: 1644 Atlanta Plaza Dr 2/2 listed at $479K, 999 Sand Castle Rd 3/3 listed at $547K, 420 East Gulf Dr 3/3 listed at $679.9K, 1537 Sand Castle Rd 4/3 listed at $829K.

4 closed sales: 1744 Bunting Ln 4/2 $585K, 0 Sea Pines 3/2 $849K, 657 Birdie View Pt 3/3 $915K, 821 Sand Dollar Dr 4/4 $1.5M.

LOTS

No new listings.

1 price change: 9232 Dimmick Dr now $235K.

No new sales.

1 closed sale: 1815 Ardsley Way $185K.

Captiva

CONDOS

Nothing to report.

HOMES

1 new listing: 17050 Captiva Dr 3/3 $4.9M.

1 price change: 11523 Wightman Ln 4/4 now $1.9499M

No new or closed sales.

LOTS

Nothing to report.

(This representation is based, in whole, or in part, on data supplied by the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors® or its 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 general real estate activity in the community and does not imply that SanibelSusan Realty Associates is participating or participated in these transactions.)

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Susan Andrews (aka SanibelSusan)