The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper

Vol. 10 No. 42 - July 21, 2010

REAL ESTATE

More hopeful news in housing market

OK call me nuts but I still can’t get this hope thing out of my head. I thought I was done with it after last week’s column, but then I went to work on compiling the May sales from the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Web site and that warm fuzzy hopefulness started all over again.

Last week in this paper it was reported that for the year ending June 30 the real estate sales in the three Island cities were up 47 percent compared to the same time frame last year. This information came from the Mid-Florida Multiple Listing Service and was provided by a local real estate broker. It was extremely good news, putting the Island way ahead of Manatee County, the state and the country as a whole.

Monthly, I independently gather sales statistics from the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Web site, which includes all sales not just those that passed through the Multiple Listing Service. This month I analyzed the month of May in detail for the three cities and for Cortez which confirmed last week’s good news with a little more detail.

The city of Anna Maria had three sales of single family homes and one lot ranging from $1,300,000 to $200,000 with an average of $351,625. Bradenton Beach had 10 sales, three single family, five condos, one duplex and one mobile home. These sales ranged from a high of $400,000 to the low of $99,400, averaging $284,390. Holmes Beach had eight sales, three single family, four condos and one duplex ranging in price from a high of $795,000 to the low of $195,000 with an average of $428,687. Cortez had two sales, one was a single family selling for $345,000 and one was a RV resort condo selling for $114,900, averaging $229,950.

The overall average for the 24 sales I looked at was $323,550.

So what does this mean? As stated in last week’s report, sales are up and in the condo market, so are prices. The investors and second home buyers are coming back in droves because they smell blood in the water and are out to catch what they can while they can afford to make a move.

While I was doing my research, I also took note of where the buyers who closed in May were coming from. I did this partly to satisfy my own curiosity, but mostly to prove what I believed – that buyers are coming back into the Florida market from out of state as well as within Florida. Here’s where some of your new neighbors are from; North Carolina, Colorado, Michigan, Canada, Ohio, Missouri, South Carolina, Maryland, Tampa, Winter Haven, New Port Richey and Lakeland. Almost every closed sale came from out of our area. Are you starting to understand why I have this hope thing going on?

I had a question recently from a friend in New York showing some interest in making an investment in Florida. She asked my opinion about some properties out east in some of the newer subdivisions. My advice to her was to buy on or near the water because that is where the real investment opportunity lies. Based on the Island’s sales activity and price points, which are starting to creep up, my friend and anyone else with a little extra cash should act soon because when winter arrives so will the aggressive buyers.

Hope and change – well let’s not have too much change, but a whole lot of hope is starting to be a reality.

Real Estate Transactions
Closed sales between May 3 and May 28, 2010

Anna Maria

103 Beach Ave. Single family $1,300,000
322 Tarpon St. Single family 605,000
213 Palm Ave. Single family 260,000
416 Spring Ave. Lot 200,000

Bradenton Beach

2311 Gulf Dr. N. Duplex $400,000 501 Gulf Dr. #303 Condo 399,000
105 12th St. N. Single family 379,000
2101 Ave. B Single family 370,000
237 17th St. N. Condo 349,000
2305 Ave. B Single family 290,000
1801 Gulf Dr. N. #153 Condo 245,000
1000 Gulf Dr. N. #4 Condo 189,000
2315 Ave C #5 Condo 123,500
2601 Gulf Dr. N. #731 Mobile 99,400

Cortez

12324 Egret Harbour Way
Single family $345,000
11900 Cortez Rd. W. #66
Resort Condo 114,900

Holmes Beach

215 64th St. Condo $795,000
610 Hampshire Ln. Single family 500,000
102 55th St. Condo 487,500
4300 Gulf Dr. Duplex 467,500
221 North Harbor Dr. Single family 440,000
201 84th St. Single family 305,500
4307 Gulf Dr. #209 Condo 239,900
5400 Gulf Dr. #27 Condo 195,000

Source: Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office

 


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