Marco Island Real Estate: October 2017

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Marco Island Real Estate Stats and Commentary September 2017

The following statistics compare September of 2017 to 2016

Sold Single Family Homes DOWN 58% (14 vs 33)

Sold Condominiums DOWN 51% (17 vs 35)

Sold Single Family Vacant Lots UP 63% (13 vs 8)

Pending Single Family Homes DOWN 70% (13 vs 43)

Pending Condominiums DOWN 64% (9 vs 25)

Pending Single Family Vacant Lots EVEN (6 vs 6)

(Pending means it went under contract but has not closed yet)

Inventory:

296 Single Family Homes (DOWN 7% from 2016)

326 Condominiums (DOWN 7% from 2016)

286 Single Family Vacant Lots DOWN 13% from 2016)

Summary:

A total of $22 Million dollars worth of real estate closed on Marco Island in the Month of September 2017. $39 Million dollars last month and $48 Million in September 2016 (last year). For the trailing 9 months we are at $546 Million this year compared to $509 Million last year, so things were moving along very nicely until Irma came to town.

Now, my faithful 7.6 readers have been hearing me us the acronym I.R.M.A. for years and years and they know what it stands for I Recommend Marco Always. Nothing can cure all sorts of problems like owning a piece of Paradise. Bad complexion? Buy a lot. Putting on a few extra pounds? Buy a condo. Spouse ran off? Buy a house on Marco, have a big party and find someone new to torture you. I'm telling you this stuff works.

Why, when I moved here with my first wife things were dicey between us, but when I offered her a one way ticket back to New Jersey the problem was solved and I have been 87% happy since. Thanks Marco!

This is a fantastic time of the year for sports aficionados. Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Hockey are all going on at the same time. And, as always, you ask "what does this have to do with Real Estate"? I'll tell you what, it comes down to choice. Some of you love the Dodgers, some of you love the Patriots, many of you love the Canadians and I love the New York Knickerbockers all by myself. Just like in Real Estate you have choices. Big homes, small condos, direct access lots or whatever, we have choices and NOBODY is wrong in what they choose. If it makes you happy, that is what counts. But, you gotta buy something and get in the game! (For all you fellow Penn State alumni out there, I feel your pain and would like to announce that I will be working on an online degree from Ohio State to avoid future embarrassment)

Back to the numbers now, okay? Irma put a damper on things and we have a lot of bloody red numbers up top. Bad, but not terrible. The world as we know it on Marco did not come to an end. As a matter of fact, now that most of the trees have been righted and are starting to grow new foliage they look just lovely. The City is doing their best to clean up the debris on the sides of the roads and life as we know it is very close to being back to normal for many residents. Certainly, there are some condos and homes that will take a while longer to be normal, but in many cases, they will be better than before. For instance, a few of the older condos that had window damage will have broken windows replaced with state of the art hurricane glass. That will add to the value of the property and give the old/new owners peace of mind. If for some reason you are reading this and are dealing with another Realtor buying a condo, please be aware of future loss assessments; you may want to work that into the deal.

I will give you a little peek into next month and tell you October will have over $40 MILLION in closed sales which will further quell the Irma rumors. Also, next month, for my intellectual readers, I hope to have my proof ready that will show how I ingeniously applied the Pythagorean Theorem to Real Estate. Instead of using the three sides of a right triangle to show that the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides, I shall use the 3 main facets of Real Estate: Homes, Condos and Lots to prove that that if you buy 1 home and 1 condo that is equal to 2 lots. I am consulting with my daughter Willy on this one and we are close to an answer. I would also like to report that our other daughter Andy hosted us for lunch at The New College of Florida where she is the Assistant Manager at the Four Winds Cafe on Campus. We ate nothing made of animal or dairy and survived.

For the faithful 7.6 readers who beg to know each month's high and low sale, here you go: The highs for the month are... a Single-Family Home for $1.335 Million at 770 Partridge Court. For Condos, Somerset 814 closed for $1.250 Million. For Vacant Lots, 131 Channel Court closed for $490,000.

For you bargain hunters out there, a Single Family Home at 1195 Sunbird closed for $355,000. In Condos, we have Southwinds B3 closing at $100,000 and a Vacant Lot at 1895 Sheffield closed for $50,000!

As always, please reach out and contact me if you have any real estate questions.

And, if you are thinking of using me as your Realtor, keep in mind that I will never be out thought or out fought.

I still await the dinner invitations. Barb and I did have one invite that we accepted a few weeks ago and the dinner at Marek's was great!

Gerry Rosenblum

Broker Associate

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty

2013, 2012 & 2007 President Marco Island Area Association of

Realtors

2008 Realtor of The Year - Marco Island

239-450-4770 (cell)
1-888-239-5131 (toll free e-fax)
1-800-237-8817 (toll free)
To View the Entire Marco MLS go to: www.viewmarco.com

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Marco Island Real Estate Stats and Commentary for August 2017

The following statistics compare August of 2017 to August 2016

Sold Single Family Home Sales UP 21% (29 vs. 24)

Sold Condominium Sales DOWN 10% (27 vs 30)

Sold Single Family Vacant Lots DOWN 13% (7 vs 8)

Average Sale Price Single Family Home DOWN 12% ($660k vs $750k)

Average Sale Price Condominium DOWN 31% (($595k vs $868k)

Average Sale Price Single Family Vacant Lot UP 81% ($491k vs $272k)

Total Dollar Value of all Single Family Homes Sold UP 6% ($19M vs $18M)

Total Dollar Value of all Condominiums Sold DOWN 38% ($16M vs $26M)

Total Dollar Value of all Single Family Lots Sold UP 58% ($3.4M vs $2.1M)

Current Inventory:

314 Single Family Homes (DOWN .32% from 2016)

336 Condominiums (DOWN 1% from 2016)

287 Single Family Lots (DOWN 16% from 2016)

A total of $39 Million dollars worth of real estate closed on Marco Island August of 2017 compared to $46 Million dollars worth in August 2016. Okay, let's not pussyfoot around (I think that's really what Trump meant to say) and talk about IRMA. As we all saw on all the news channels, Marco Island took a direct hit. And you know what? Marco proved it can take a punch. Sure, there were some knockdowns of trees, pool cages, roof tiles, the Sprint cell tower and signs, but in the end, Marco stood tall and was standing at the end of the storm. Certainly, there were some homes and condos that suffered more severe damage and there are some examples of freak issues, such as the seawall at Ville de Marco West failing and the water is now under the building and the pilings are exposed. (photo attached) Again, all in all, we took a direct hit and things are pretty good for most people.

So, you always ask "what does this have to do with Real Estate" I'll tell you. Once we had internet and phone back up I received multiple calls, texts, and emails from folks wondering if there would be any "deals" to be had. I am sure there will be and here is why....We have a summer home back in New Jersey on LBI that was wiped out by the flood of Super Storm Sandy. As a bit of time went by, it became apparent that many of the home owners had no mortgages, so they had no required insurance. In some cases, the homes suffered $50,000 to $100,000 worth of damage and the current owner didn't have the money or desire to repair the home. In many cases, they would simply discount the home and sell it AS-IS. As many folks like to buy homes and remodel them with new roofs, flooring and the like, this resulted in the chance to buy property at a discounted price. Not everyone on Marco is a multi-millionaire like my faithfull 7.6 readers, so I'm sure there will be those that begin to sell AS-IS properties at a discount here on Marco. One of the most important things I learned from living on Marco and New Jersey for decades is that people have short memories when it comes to storms. (but not for ex-spouses) Sure, things on Marco are a bit smelly now and it is sad to see all the trees and foliage damaged by the storm, but in a few weeks that will all be cleaned up and things will be looking pretty normal in no time. I'd say 90% of the businesses are back up and running and there is a sense of comaraderie/fraternity that I've mentioned before that is stronger than ever here in Paradise. It is heartwarming to see neighbors helping neighbors and strangers helping strangers. Our good neighbors in Goodland and Isles of Capri have suffered much worse than Marco and any help you can send their way would be great. The other thing you can do is support your local businesses by patronizing them. I would encourage any of the faithfull 7.6 that are in town and want dine out to feel free to invite Barb and I. If you pay, we are more than happy to help run up the bill, which is our way of helping show support.

My first wife feels very strongly about this topic so she went right out and got her hair done. She was instrumental in raising Andy and Willy so they too showed their support by rushing out as soon as the fresh fish arrived so they could have sushi.

Luckily the liquor stores were open or there would have been bedlam. And another interesting fact is that all the caffeine addicts were lined up outside Starbucks with blank looks on their faces.

As a public service announcement, I would advise you NOT TO EAT ANYTHING IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR or FREEZER upon your return to Marco. The electric was out long enough in most places to allow everything in the freezer to thaw out and now that the electric is back on it refroze. Those bacon wrapped Omaha filets you left behind are now fit to be crab bait, don't throw them on the Barbie. (my first wife)

Now, back to business. The sold $$ leaders for the month are... a Single-Family Home for $1.5 Million at 114 Coco Plum in Hideaway. For Condos, Belize Penthouse 2305 closed for $5,900,000.00 (nice) and for Vacant Lots, 152 Dan River Court closed for $825,000.

For you bargain hunters out there, a Single Family Home at 508 Fifth Ave . closed for $292,500. A Condo in Aquarius unit D4, closed for short money at $123,000 and a Vacant Lot at 1286 Bluebird closed for $112,000 Again, there really is something for everyone here on Marco Island.

As always, please reach out and contact me if you have any real estate questions or want to take me and my first wife out to dinner.