by Sarah Ashton, Real Estate Broker Associate
Ashton Kirchner Group, Keller Williams Group
Things were slower.
You didn’t need me to tell you that if you were trying to sell your island property. The days of properties flying off the market in a day with multiple offers is past. Higher interest rates are a factor but there is also the post-Ian lull.
Initially, after Ian – there was some unbridled enthusiasm on the part of some buyers and investors that their time had come to snatch up damaged island properties at a deep discount. The next phase was the relatively unscathed properties coming on the market and many of these went quickly as well.
We are now in the phase where we are getting fully renovated properties that sellers are looking to sell for pre-Ian pricing. Unfortunately the island buying public isn’t buying it. There are buyers out there but they are taking their time and questioning the purchase price in light of the cost to own. We are back to a time where getting a buyer off the fence to present an offer is a process.
Now that we are in the thick of hurricane season there will be even more hesitancy to pull the proverbial trigger on an offer. Historically this has always been our slowest time of the year for putting contracts together and this year will be just that. Our number of properties on the market is going down in large part to property listings expiring and the sellers waiting until next season to re-list. That makes the inventory of possible choices for buyers less appealing as well so many are happy to wait.
This too shall pass and it is likely that by the end of 2024 – beginning of 2025 we will start to see more enthusiastic buyers looking for island property. For now, we need to be patient.
Real Estate on Sanibel & CaptivaJanuary through June 2024
| Active | Under Contract | Closed 2024 | Closed 2023 | Y/Y Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanibel Houses | 116 | 19 | 109 | 174 | -37% |
| Sanibel Condos | 95 | 5 | 45 | 64 | -30% |
| Captiva Houses | 19 | 1 | 5 | 11 | -55% |
| Captiva Condos | 32 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 25% |
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