The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 11 No. 9 - December 1, 2010

REAL ESTATE

Beaches of the world can't beat ours

There are a lot of islands in the world and a lot of waterfront land, but for some reason little Anna Maria Island keeps popping up as one of the best.

Most recently, Coastal Living Magazine’s November issue featured a story about buying a second home, and again Anna Maria was one of the locations chosen as a great spot to live. Basically, the short piece pointed out all the great things about Anna Maria, beaches, trolley, sunsets, restaurants and most important of all, in their words a “plethora of water-accessed homes.”

Also contained in their report was a CNN Money website to check out, giving economists’ predictions about the housing forecast in specific areas of the country. Naturally, I went right to it and was fascinated with what I found. First of all the general prediction for the national housing market is that the median home price is expected to rise by about 4 percent by 2012.

In Florida, however, the majority of regions are expected to experience a decline in prices during the first quarter of 2010 through the first quarter of 2011. In spite of this, in many of the Florida regions either the decline is predicted to be sharply reduced during the first quarter of 2011 through 2012 or completely reversed, putting prices in positive territory.

For example – Anna Maria, which is lumped in with North Port, Bradenton and Sarasota is down 9.3 percent for 2010 to 2011, but is expected to be only down by 0.9 percent for the following year. The Naples/Marco Island region containing some of the most expensive waterfront properties in the country is down 16.5 percent for this year, but drops to minus 9.7 percent for next.

Miami continues to be in trouble with minus 10.9 percent for this year, but increasing to minus 11.6 percent for next. We’re also ahead of Tampa/St.Petersburg/Clearwater’s anticipated drop for 2011-2012 of minus 1.2 percent. Palm Coast, Lakeland, Ocala, Titusville are all areas that are predicted to have positive appreciation starting in 2011.

It sure sounds like not only have we hit bottom, but we have turned the corner, and it’s time for serious buyers to get busy before prices start heading up along with interest rates. Based on the activity on Anna Maria Island and what we hear from local real estate brokers, that’s already happening, and our traditional buying season is still to come. If CNN Money did an independent study for Anna Maria I’m pretty sure its growth prediction would be in the positive area.

I’ve seen a lot of beaches in the world, and the ones I visited most recently in the South Pacific were certainly spectacular, but not as overwhelming as I expected. Most likely, because I see spectacular every day.Dravuni Island, Fiji; Tauranga, New Zealand; and Manley Beach, Australia were all wonderful places to visit, but they didn’t take my breath away. What still does takes my breath away is sunset at the Sandbar and dolphins playing in the afterglow.

When our cruise arrived at Ile Des Pins, New Caledonia, I heard someone say “this is a great place to jump ship.” Well many of us have already jumped ship and washed up on an Anna Maria beach where you don’t have to travel to the other side of the world to feel like you’ve escaped.

Real Estate Transactions
Closed sales between Aug. 2 and Oct. 9, 2010

Anna Maria

721 North Shore Single family $1,100,000
512 Bayview Place Single family 800,000
216 Palm Ave. Single family 699,000
104 Maple Ave. Single family 667,500
309 S. Bay Blvd. Single family 425,000
780 Jacaranda Rd. Duplex 357,500
216 Archer Way Single family 332,500
204 Archer Way Single family 300,000
333 Tarpon St. Lot 300,000

Bradenton Beach

500 Bay Dr. S. Single family $965,200
2317 Ave. C #300 Condo 315,000
1325 Gulf Drive N. #165Condo 300,000
1325 Gulf Drive N. #166Condo 300,000
1325 Gulf Drive N. #164Condo 285,000
1325 Gulf Drive N. #161Condo 285,000
1325 Gulf Drive N. #264Condo 280,500
501 Gulf Drive N. #103Condo 240,000
1325 Gulf Drive N. #163Condo 239,800
501 Gulf Drive N. #305Condo 227,000
2211 Ave. C Single family 220,000
2311 Canasta Drive Single family 165,000
2412 Gulf Drive. N. #125Condo 160,000
2412 Gulf Drive N. #224Condo 155,000
2412 Gulf Drive N. #225Condo 155,000
1603 Gulf Drive N. #18Condo 150,000
1603 Gulf Drive N. #19Condo 150,000
117 Seventh St. N. #9 Condo 150,000
1603 Gulf Drive N. #33Condo 109,000
107 Sixth St. S. Single family 100,000
2503 Gulf Drive N. #302Condo 100,000
1603 Gulf Drive N. #34Condo 70,000

Cortez

12909 42nd Terr. W. Single family $1,025,000
11900 Cortez Rd. W. RV resort
#10, #17, #28, #45 Multi-units 619,700
4224 Marina Ct. Condo 525,000
3860 Mariners Way #413Condo 274,900
12329 Baypointe Terr. Lot 140,000

Holmes Beach

528 72nd St. Single family $1,450,000
3212 Gulf Drive Single family 1,300,000
616 Hampshire Lane Single family 775,000
3009 Ave. F Duplex 763,500
403 80th St. Condo 595,000
203 76th St. Condo 584,500
525 74th St. Single family 550,000
612 North Point Drive Single family 525,000
303 61st St. #A Condo 510,000
209 69st St. Duplex 480,000
6200 Flotilla Drive #273 Condo 480,000
227 85th St. Single family 440,000
517 70th St. Single family 416,500
203 82 St. Condo 400,000
519 77th St. Single family 400,000
405 N. Harbor Drive Single family 400,000
614 Concord Lane Single family 399,900
506 74 St. Single family 390,000
405 74 St. Condo 375,000
3706 Gulf Drive. Single family 370,000
6250 Holmes Blvd. #70 Condo 355,000
6200 Flotilla Drive #274 Condo 365,000
322 64 St. Condo 350,000
207 55 St. Single family 305,000
4104 6 Ave. Condo 285,200
609 Emerald Lane Single family 285,000
2903 Ave. B Duplex 278,000
3703 5 Ave. #3 Condo 270,000
309 58 St. Duplex 270,000
3207 6 Ave. Single family 260,000
3803 East Bay Drive #2 Condo 260,000
6919 Holmes Blvd. Half duplex 250,000
2805 Gulf Drive Single family 249,000
3702 Sixth Ave. #4 Condo 230,000
504 Key Royale Drive Single family 223,000
2705 Ave. C Single family 200,900
2710 Ave. C Single family 160,000

Source: Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office


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