The average number of days a home was on the market was 391 days in Sanibel and 349 in Captiva. These statistics include the current listing information gathered from the Sanibel & Captiva MLS. For more information about real estate on Sanibel, Captiva, or another location throughout SW Floirida, or if you need information about the history of a specific listing, please call me at (239) 691-2265.

To start things off, lets look at the single family home market on Sanibel.  This market started to show signs of stability last year, mainly in the lowest price range of $400-700,000.  Several factors led this segment to rebound first, most notably that buyers in this price range were able to re-enter the market after having been priced out several years earlier during the run-up. This price range also had the quickest run to the bottom, a surprising 35-40% off the highs of 2006. After several months of very low and apparently stable prices, buyers started showing up, bringing more emotion and motivation to the table. The drop in values gave them new life, which they in turn gave to the market.

Since then the other segments of the market have mirrored the drop in property values, the correction slowly moving upward through the higher price ranges and finally into the high-end luxury home market. Every segment of the island real estate market from top to bottom has now experienced significant drops in value. Just this week a fantastic Gulf-front single family home on Captiva was listed for half what it sold for in 2007. Amazing!

Now for the GOOD NEWS!

Both the Average Sale Price and the Median Sale Price of Sanibel single family homes for the 2nd and 3rd quarters 2011 are up! We have not seen price apprecition in consecutive quarters in over 5 years. This is very exciting news going into the winter and spring months and hopefully a trend.

In addition, the broader regional market of SW Florida has been in the news quite a bit lately, including this article by BankRate.com naming Ft Myers/Cape Coral the hottest real estate market in the country with a Q2 median sale price up 17.9%. Does it signal a broader recovery in the coming year for the area? I don’t know. My instincts tell me yes. But regardless of how soon we rebound, the more news and data that show we have at least reached the bottom, the better. The recovery will eventually need to be built on a stable foundation, and each piece of good news is another building block in that direction.

Sanibel Single Family Home Q3 stats

New Listings 42
Sold Listings 40
Pending Listings 31

Average Sell Price           $891,892                 12% YTD
Median Sell Price           $657,450              2.14% YTD
Days on Market                  369              27.41% YTD

There are currently 21 active listings in Town and River, ranging in price from $379,000 to $1,740,000 and representing approximately an 8.5 month supply of inventory. Average days on the market for active listings is 215 days, while for homes sold so far this year that number is 206. One home is currently pending as a short sale.

Elevated sales volume coupled with stabilizing home prices is a very good sign and becoming more and more common in the SW Florida real estate market. The summer months have shown a continuation of the increased activity we saw in the Spring months and is another sign we are finally on the road to recovery.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Ft Myers, Sanibel or Captiva, please give me a call or pass along my name. I can be reached at (239) 691-2265 or rpailes@viprealty.com

The City of Sanibel has been notified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), that the City of Sanibel has been rated as a CRS Class 5 Community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), Community Rating System (CRS).

The CRS program reviews local communities on 18 activities in four categories: Public Information, Mapping and Regulations, Flood Damage Reduction and Flood Preparedness. As a CRS Class 5 rated community, Sanibel property owners will continue to qualify for a 25 percent discount on National Flood Insurance Program premiums.

Upon receiving the class 5 CRS from FEMA, Sanibel City Manager Judie Zimomra stated, “As a barrier island City staff places a high priority on our flood preparedness. As we enter hurricane season it is the appropriate time for all of us to review our current insurance coverages.”

FEMA conducts extensive on-site verifications every three years.

Today I am happy to announce and share the new and improved RobPailes.com! The new site is designed to showcase luxury SW Florida, Sanibel, and Captiva properties with exceptional photography and easy-to-use mapping technology. The custom VIP Realty Group search page is state-of-the-art with a map based search and “MyVIP”. With this feature you can save properties of interest and design custom searches to deliver exactly the properties you want to find.

Facebook, Twitter, and “Property Lines”, my new blog, are all integrated into the site to bring timely and relevant market activity and news to you or your mobile device. My social media content is real estate specific and not a bunch of fluff. Postings include timely market news, data and most importantly the best priced Sanibel, Captiva, and SW Florida real estate. Now is the time to take advantage of SW Florida’s incredible real estate market and investment opportunities. Find me on Facebook (Rob Pailes, SW Florida Realtor®), follow me on Twitter (@robpailes), or simply stop back often and discover how you will find your place in paradise.

Thank you so much to Kaitlyn and everyone at Cybersunshine!! Once again CS has come through with another incredible web site. I am grateful for the extra effort they always put forth to guide me through the process and deliver a site which exceeds my vision. Kaitlyn you are wonderful!