(same) active lots listed this past week in Anna
Maria and Holmes Beach, and one lot went pending. It is located at
333 Tarpon Street and was listed fo $599,900. It is 72ft. X 110ft. and
located on a deepwater canal on the north end of Anna Maria.
The lowest
priced lot is still listed for $239,000, and it is located at 3017 Avenue
C, in Holmes Beach. The highest priced lot is located at Spruce Avenue, in
Anna Maria. It is on the water, with two cottages on it, and it is listed
for $4 ,500,000.
There were 34 (up three) active duplex listings in
the areas of Holmes Beach and Anna Maria combined. One duplex went pending
this week. It is located at 5609 Guava Street, in Holmes Beach. It
has 1276 square feet, putting the asking price of $239,900 at $188.01 per square
foot. It had been listed originally for $450K in February of 2008, and I
am sorry to say it is now a short sale.
The lowest priced duplex just
went pending, and the highest priced duplex is located at 2810 Avenue E,
Gulffront, and is listed for $2,000,000.
There are 241 (up seven)
active condo listings in Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, and Bradenton Beach
combined, and no condos went pending this week. ;
As I wrote
last week, the prices of condos have a great range right now. The lowest
priced cond o is located at 107 8th Street #3, in Bradenton Beach. It is a
resort style one bedroom/one bath 420 square feet property and is
now listed for $143,900. The highest priced condo is located in
Holmes Beach, at 5622 Gulf Drive. It is a three bedroom/three bath 2594
square feet unit located in the Vista Grande Condos. It is listed
for $1,995,000.
On the SOLD front, the high-end Mediterranean home listed
for $1,595,000 on the end of 58th Street SOLD this week for the listing price
(see picture above). I had shown this property and had buyers tempted at
the "reduced" price, down from $1,995,000 (and said to be once listed for $3.5
million). It had a total of four bedrooms, four baths and 3618 square
feet. It has a 262 foot seawall and, at the selling price, it sold
for $440.85 per square foot.
On another
note, here is some local "fishing" news; Stone crab season has
begun!
Fishers bring stone crabs to
market
by Lisa
Neff. Islander Reporter
A $9.5 million market opens this
week.
Stone crab season begins We dnesday, Oct. 15, and
continues until May 15.
For Cortez, that means crabbers are hard at work
hauling, baiting and collecting traps, and retailers are at work marketing the
stone crab claws.
Many other fishing communities around the state also
rely heavily on the season. Last year, the state reported that sales of stone
crab claws generated about $9.5 million, with far more claws collected from
Florida’s west coast than the east coast.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
reported issuing 30 stone crab licenses in Manatee County for 2008 as of August.
The number is down from 54 licenses in 2003 and 97 licenses in
1998.
Catches reported from Manatee County also have declined
over the years — 24,466 pounds last season compared to 65,200 pounds in
2003.
Statewide last season’s stone crab catch was 1.4
million, with fishers reporting 9,870 trips and crab sales averaging $6.69 a
pound.
Until the first reports from trap checks come in,
fishers and retailers will not know what kind of season to expect, but the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has reported that stone crab
population levels are estimated to be high and no overfishi ng has occurred
recently.
Go vernment agencies maintain that restrictions on
crabbing have led to a sustainability of the species, specifically rules
allowing crabbers to take only a legal-sized claw from a crab and then returning
it to the water.
For diners, stone crab claws are a low-fat source of
protein, selenium and magnesium.
But the nutritional value is not really what attracts
foodies. Seafood enthusiasts describe the claws as a delicacy — succulent,
sweet, delectable — whether dipped in butter or served with a signature
sauce.
The claws are cooked immediately after harvest. They
are served fresh here, but the claws also are fro zen and shipped
worldwide.
“We have people from all over come in for stone crabs,”
said Alice Sistek of Cortez Bait & Seafood Inc., 119th St. W., Cortez.
“People enjoy those stone crabs — and we get some colossals that are amazing,
just amazing.”
The fresh seafood shop relies heavily on the stone crab
harvest. “It pulls us through,” Sistek said.
Just as crabbers do not know what to expect of the
harvest this new season, retailers and restaurants do not know what to expect
for prices.
The in creased cost of fuel was expected to be a
factor.
So.......I will continue to keep you posted,
and, until next report.....have a great
week!
Sue
Sue
Carlson,
Broker/Owner
An Island Place Realty
411 Pine Avenue
Anna
Maria, Florida 34216
941-779-9320
800-454-3211 Fax
941-720-2242 Sue's
cell
www.islandplacerealty.com
"SUE'S NEWS" From October 6 - 13, 2008
Hello
everyone!
I have had enough people ask me about another newsletter,
so here it is! The weather is
beautiful onAnna Maria Island. There have been some welcome, humidity
free “fall” days here! In spite of
the housing slow-down, things appear to be fairly busy here on the island. New homes are still being built and many
are being remodeled here and there throughout the island. You would never know things are slow,
except for the phones not ringing like they did a few years ago!…..and a few
real estate offices closing their doors….
For owners, I hate to say it, but prices are still going
down. We all are awaiting that
moment when the “light switch” is turned back on, and the frenzy to find a place
NOW on Anna
Maria Island begins
again!
Here is the latest news of Active, Pending, and SOLD
listings on AMI:
ANNA
MARIA:
SINGLE FAMILY
HOMES:
ACTIVE:
81 Prices
ranging from a $398K 3B/2B to a newly listed $4.2M home at 799 North Shore
Drive
PENDING: 1 Frank Lloyd Wright designed canal
front home for $1,349,000
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
16 Starting at a $290K 2B/1B cottage behind the
Waterfront Restaurant, with 6 sales under $500K and 14 sales under
$700K.
CONDOS:
ACTIVE: 10 3 of these are the original Bayou Condos in Anna
Maria, from $320K (without a dock) to $365K; the other listings are places
that have been “condominiumized”
PENDING: O
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
O
DUPLEXES:
ACTIVE: 10 Prices from $378K to a Gulf Front $2,775,000
at 102-A Magnolia Avenue 5B/3B (listed 4/25/06, days on market: 536)
PENDING: 0
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
1
A 4B/2B duplex at 305 Palm Avenue for $417,450 (list
price: $499K)
LOTS:
ACTIVE: 17 Priced from $298K to $4.5M at 203 Spruce; of note here
is the $298K lot located at 416 Spring Avenue was originally listed at
$459K 468 days ago. It has been recently reduced and
reduced and has not gone pending yet. Also of note is: in my February 2007
“Sue’s News,” there were 30 active lots. Only 1 has sold since then, so many
have been taken off the market.
PENDING: 2 $299K and $699K canal front
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
0
HOLMES BEACH:
SINGLE FAMILY HOMES:
ACTIVE: 153 Prices ranging from a $329K
Seaside Gardens to a $3,999,999 Gulf
front 3B/2B located at 4300 2nd Avenue
PENDING: 3 In the price range from $445K to $499K
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
30 11 sales were under $500K and 22 under $700K
CONDOS:
ACTIVE: 147 $190K is the lowest priced and 34
are listed under $400K, to the highest priced at $2,390,000 located at
5622 Gulf Drive
, Unit #2, 3B/3B
PENDING: 1 A Playa Encantada Gulf front 3B/2B for $1,495,000
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
6 Sales prices ranging from $285K to
$1,250,000
DUPLEXES:
ACTIVE: 10 From $349,900 to $1,100,000
PENDING: 1 At $599K, 106 46th Street
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
1 For $650K, a 6B/6B at 312 60th
Street
LOTS:
ACTIVE: 10 From $349,900 to $1,100,000
PENDING: 1 At $599K, 106 46th Street
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
0
BRADENTON BEACH:
SINGLE FAMILY HOMES:
ACTIVE: 28 From $198K at Sandpiper Resort (Modular) to $1,896,000 at
306 S. Gulf
Drive
PENDING: 0
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
3 $250K & $350K & $750K
CONDOS:
ACTIVE: 121 From $227,500 to $2.5M, with 50
listed under $400K
PENDING: 1
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
11 Ranging from $160K to $950K, with 9 under
$400K
DUPLEXES:
ACTIVE: 18 Priced from $479K to $1,896,000 located at
306 S. Gulf
Drive
PENDING: 0
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
0
LOTS:
ACTIVE: 2
PENDING: 0
SOLD (4 MONTHS, from 6/13/07 to
10/13/07):
2 $250K & a $750K bay front lot
REAL ESTATE
NEWS:
ON THE
SUBJECT OF PROPERTY TAXES:
A Leon County circuit judge ruled that the Florida
Legislature’s proposed property tax constitutional amendment is
misleading, and he removed it from the Jan. 29 ballot. FAR, lawmakers and
Gov. Charlie Crist are now reviewing the options: Appeal, revise the
amendment wording, or both.
OCTOBER 10,
2007:
Crist wants to expand current
legislative session and scales down tax plan
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oct. 10, 2007 – With three weeks
to go before a property-tax referendum would be dead for a year, Gov.
Charlie Crist pushed legislators hard Tuesday to embrace a scaled-down
plan he says will revive the real estate market – but that would save the
average homeowner less than $250 a year.
The key differences between Crist’s proposal and the
one a judge threw off the Jan. 29 ballot: It protects the Save Our Homes
tax cap, provides “portability” to allow homeowners to transfer tax
savings to a new home, boasts a number of pro-business savings and doesn’t
take money from schools.
The governor and legislators have until Oct. 31 to
come up with a plan to replace the invalidated property-tax amendment.
Otherwise, a vote is likely to wait until November 2008. With time running
out and agreement hard to reach, Crist has increased the pressure – and
lowered expectations.
On
Tuesday, Crist suggested extending lawmakers’ special session into
overtime this week to vote out his plan, even though the estimated $6.3
billion in tax savings over five years falls short of his promise to make
taxes “drop like a rock.”
Crist said his plan “isn’t the endgame” and added he
will push for additional tax reforms with lawmakers when they meet in
regular session next spring and with the state Taxation and Budget Reform
Commission, which is meeting
now. “We’re going to keep calling plays, moving the
ball.”
FROM OCTOBER 8,
2007:
Greenspan 50/50 on
recession
WASHINGTON – Oct. 8, 2007 – Former Federal Reserve
Chairman Alan Greenspan said last week that the rate of U.S. economic growth was
slowing, but the odds of a recession are less than 50/50.
Greenspan also said in an
interview on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer” that the turmoil
caused by the subprime mortgage crisis was easing and financial markets
were beginning to go back to normal.
Greenspan said Americans should be “cautious” about
the economy, but not necessarily nervous.
“I think the best way of putting it is that the
American economy’s rate of growth is definitely slowing down,” Greenspan
said, adding that the odds of a recession are less than 50/50.
Greenspan added that he
thought there was not much that lawmakers and the Fed should be doing to
avoid a downturn.
“I
doubt very much if there is anything that can or should be done. Because
remember, we have a very complex, self-calibrating, self-adjusting
economy,” he said.
FROM OCTOBER 3,
2007:
Mortgage problems continue to hamper
pending home sales
WASHINGTON – Oct.
3, 2007 – Pending sales of existing-homes activity will be dampened
near-term as mortgage disruptions continue to impact the housing market,
according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).
The Pending Home Sales
Index, a forward-looking indicator, fell 6.5 percent to a reading of 85.5
from an upwardly revised 91.4 in July, based on contracts signed in
August. It was 21.5 percent below the August 2006 index of 108.9.
Lawrence Yun, NAR senior
economist, says the mortgage market impact is quantifiable. “Fewer
contracts were being written because of mortgage availability issues, and
a separate internal survey of our members shows more than 10 percent of
sales contracts fell through at the last moment in August, primarily the
result of canceled loan commitments,” he says. “The volume of activity
we’re seeing today is below sustainable market fundamentals because some
creditworthy people are trying to buy homes but can’t because of the
credit crunch.
“The
impact was greater in high-cost markets that are more dependent on jumbo
mortgages. In some areas, as much as 30 percent of signed contracts were
falling through in August when the credit crunch problem peaked,” Yun
says. “The problem has since become less severe, though jumbo loan rates
are still higher than they would be under normal conditions. Therefore,
sales activity in late fall will better reflect market fundamentals.”
The index is a leading
indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing
homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but
the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized
within one or two months of signing.
Annual changes in the index are more closely related
to actual market performance than are month-to-month comparisons. As the
relatively new index matures and seasonal adjustment factors are refined,
the month-to-month comparisons will become more meaningful.
OVERALL OCTOBER REAL ESTATE NEWS & STATS:
Housing Market Indicators:
Florida existing home sales: -26%
Florida existing condo sales: -25%
Florida existing home median price: $231,900
Florida existing condo median price: $196,800
Florida consumer confidence: 79
National existing home sales: -4.3%
National existing home median price $224,500
National (Freddie Mac) mortgage rate 6.40%
THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE:
A
mortgage broker I work with on the island said there were four home sales
here in the month of July, and two of them were paid with cash.
I
had a buyer down from New
York State last weekend, looking in the
$300K and under range. We had 30 island wide condo listings to
choose from!
REAL ESTATE
NEWS From The Islander, October 3rd,
2007:
“Sales are going up. Sales are increasing because many
sellers have lowered their asking prices in the past year to “realistic”
expectations.”
“Through August 2007, 149 sales of condominiums,
homes and duplexes had been reported. For the first eight months of 2006,
only 114 sales were reported. That’s a 33 percent increase.”
“At the same time, the average sale price has
plummeted from $806,000 at this time last year to $574,000 this year. It’s
a buyer’s market.”
“Smart shoppers are coming back and finding the
Island property of their dreams, and the Island real estate market is
still “undervalued” compared to similar Florida
barrier islands. Even during the boom years of 2004 and 2005,
Island prices were
below comparable locations.”
“Now that sellers are discounting prices, Anna Maria Island still has better deals as
evidenced by the volume of sales.”
But once the “discounted properties” are sold, prices
are expected to “return to normal.”
On
an “up” note:
From The Islander:
Businesses pleased: tourism up more than 25
percent
By Rick
Catlin. Islander Reporter
Tourism figures just
released by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau confirm that
Anna Maria Island
experienced a tourism boom in August (The
Islander, Sept. 19).Thanks largely to the additional two weeks
of summer vacation Florida public school students had this year, the CVB
reported that occupancy rates on the Island climbed from 40.2 percent in
August 2006 to 50.7 percent for the same month this year, a 26.1 percent
increase.
The upswing in tourism affected the entire CVB
reporting area, as the August 2007 figures showed an increase in occupancy
from the same month last year throughout Manatee County of 7.1 percent. The CVB
reported overall occupancy for August 2007 stood at 51.5 percent compared
with just 44.4 percent for August 2006.
I hope to see you all sometime over the next several
months while visiting this one of a kind island place! In the
meantime, I will continue to keep you in touch with activities here in the
real estate market!
Sue
"SUE'S
NEWS," From September 29 to October 6, 2008
Above: Sunday morning walk out on Bean Pointe, Anna
Maria
Hello from Anna Maria Island!
I took the attached photos
yesterday morning, as I walked out on Bean Pointe. My mother had
sent me a series of photos from northern Michigan titled "October in
Michigan," showing all of the brilliant fall colors from the weekend
there. I followed suit with an email back to her titled
"October in Florida." I thought they'd see the humor in it (as our
colors really don't change :-), besides the fact that they would enjoy
seeing photos of what they will soon be seeing in person!
The begining of October has
seemed a bit slow, as far as tourists go, here on the island. I have
seen, though, a few out of state license plates as some of the early
"snowbirds" have already headed south!
Here is what the current issue of the Islander Newspaper says about the influx of
people onto the island:
Businesses find winter friends returning
by Rick Catlin. Islander Reporter
A number of
Anna Maria Island business owners are relaxing now that winter friends are
beginning to trickle back for the winter season.
Also, the closure of the Anna Maria
Island Bridge — at least to this two-week point in the 45-day rehab plan —
has not impacted that return to any significant degree.
While it might be expected that
Bradenton Beach businesses would benefit from the detour that puts all
traffic to and from the Island and mainland onto the Cortez Bridge during
the closure, businesses located in the middle and on the north end of the
Island seem to be holding up well, at least through the first two weeks of
the closure.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised,” said
Roxanne Reid of Sterling Anvil jewelers, which has been in b usiness in
Holmes Beach since 1971.
“It’s going very well for us,
especially since we moved to a new locatio n. We’re seeing some of our
regular clients returning to visit us, in additio n to some new ones,”
Reid said.
“I think people are discovering that
it's not so hard to get out here on the Cortez Bridge,” she
added.
Reid and business partner Mary Norman
had been concerned some regulars might not be able to find the store after
they moved over the summer to 5508 Marina Drive.
“Some of the people are starting to
return, and they’ve found us at our new location, so we’re very pleased so
far,” she said.
At Beach Bums-Island Attitudes on Pine
Avenue in Anna Maria, manager Lauren Sato said the sales figures for the
first week of October are already ahead of last year’s.
“We’re real excited about October,
especially with Bayfest coming up. We’ve got some new bicycles and we’re
co-sponsoring a kayak festival on Oct. 25. We’ve had some decent traffic
for this early in the season,” she said.
Sato noted that the entire Island
community seems to be “pulling together” during the closure
period.
“It’s great to see how everyone is
pulling together to get through this. I think October is going to be a
great month for everyone,” she said.
Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce
executive director Mary Ann Brockman was also pleased at how winter
visitors are returning, and the ability of the Flor ida Department of
Transportation and local law enforcement to keep traffic moving on and off
the Cortez Bridge.
“It’s all good,” she said. “I haven’t
had any members complaining, traffic is moving well, and we have started
to see the winter visitors show up at the chamber offices asking for
information about the Island. That’s a great sign.”
Brockman said members are reporting a
lot of visitors from Europe, who are taking advantage of low October and
November accommodation prices on the Island.
And, with a concerted effort by
Islanders to support Island businesses, Brockman said she expects Bayfest
to be “unbelievable” this year.
“All in all, we seem to be handling the
closure quite well, and the winter visitors are now returning,” she
said.
At the Holmes Beach Barber Shop in the
Island Shopping Center, Holmes Beach, owners Don and Patsy Madden said
they are starting to see a few of their regular winter
visitors.
“About four or five every week,” said
Don Madden.
0I don’t think the bridge has hurt us,
but our people are locals and winte r residents, not visitors.”
On the real estate front,
there are currently 233 (up two) active
single family home listings in both Anna Maria and Holmes Beach combined,
and there were no homes that went pending this week.
There were 30 (down one) active lots listed this
past week in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach, and no lots went
pending. The lowest priced lot is still listed for $239,000,
and it is located at 3017 Avenue C, in Holmes Beach. The
highest priced lot is located at Spruce Avenue, in Anna Maria. It is
on the water, with two cottages on it, and it is listed
for $4,500,000.
There were 31 (same) active duplex listings in the
areas of Holmes Beach and Anna Maria combined. No duplexes went
pending this week. The lowest priced duplex is located at 5609 Guava
Street, in Holmes Beach, for $239,900. The highest priced duplex is
located at 2810 Avenue E, Gulffront, and is listed for $2,000,000.
It was a busier week for
condos this week! There are 234 (down=2 0one) active
condo listings in Anna Maria, Holmes Beach, and Bradenton Beach
combined, and four condos went pending this week.
The first one20is located at
Bayview Terrace, 117 N. 7th Street, Unit #5, in Bradenton Beach. It
is a short sale that was listed initially for $310,000. It went
pending, finally, at the price of $149K. Looking20back at the sales
records, it had SOLD for $275K in December of 2005, the height of the
market. It is a one bedroom, one bath, 638 square foot unit.
The second pending condo is
located at Sandy Pointe, 3607 East Bay Drive, Holmes Beach, Unit
#204. It is a two bedroom, two bath, 1000 sq. ft. unit that was
listed for $269,999. It had originally been listed for $279,000, and
it spent 160 days on the market.
The third pending condo is a Sun Plaza unit, #102,
located at 5608 Gulf Drive, in Holmes Beach. This is a popular
Gulffront complex, and this unit had been for sale a long time (542 days,
to be exact). I had shown it several times over the past two
years. It is located in the back part of the complex that overlooks
the tennis courts. It had been listed for $659,000 in July of 2005,
but had been gradually reduced to its current asking price of
$339,000. This is a two bedroom, two bath turnkey unit, with 1092
square feet.
The fourth
pending condo is located nearby, at Martinique South, 5200 Gulf Drive,
Unit #604, in Holmes Beach. This is a two b edroom, two bath unit
with 1169 square feet. It is a top floor corner unit that has been
completely remodeled in 2003. In June of 2002, it SOLD for
$399,000. It went pending this week at the price of $499K (sales
price unknown yet).
Prices of condos have a great range right now.
The lowest priced condo is located at 107 8th Stree t #3, in Bradenton
Beach. It is a resort style one bedroom/one bath 420 square feet
property and is now listed for $143,900. The highest priced
condo is located in Holmes Beach, at 5622 Gulf Drive. It is a three
bedroom/three bath 2594 square feet unit located in the Vista Grande
Condos. It is listed for $1,995,000.
On the SOLD front, a
duplex property located at 105 S. 8th Street, units A & B, in
Bradenton Beach, sold for $300K this week. I had shown this older
cottage style property earlier this fall. It had been lowered to
$339,900, and the neighbor described it as a "tear-down," but my buyers
wanted to keep it as is and update the interior for a "near the beach"
rental. It had a total of four bedrooms, two baths and a combined
total of 1667 square feet.
I will continue to keep you posted, and, until
next report.....have a great week!
Sue
PS. News "under the table....." :-)
When out at the Rod 'n Reel Pier for lunch this week, a couple
of the wait staff told us that Southern
Living Magazine had been there and done a photo shoot while working
on a story on the island for a future issue! This will be in
addition to the already published article on the Pine Avenue Restoration
Project in its September 2008 issue.
Sue Carlson,
Broker/Owner
An Island Place
Realty
411 Pine Avenue
Anna Maria, Florida 34216
941-779-9320
800-454-3211
Fax
941-720-2242 Sue's cell
www.islandplacerealty.com
"SUE'S NEWS," From September
22 to 29, 2008
