provided by Sarah Ashton, Broker Associate
Ashton Kirchner Group, Keller Williams Realty
Recently, I have had conversations with neighbors, clients and fellow Realtors about the current state of the Real Estate Market on Sanibel. Without fail it comes around to the feeling that there are “so many listings”.
Having been an Island Realtor since 2003, I have seen a lot of ups and downs in our market. My feeling was that we did not have an inordinate number of listings currently and that the market, even in the wake of Ian, was actually acting like a normal market. Yes, many of the properties currently for sale could hardly be called normal with missing walls, furnishings and appliances, however, the supply of properties was actually still a bit low for January.
In order to validate my feelings, I consulted the Multiple Listing Service, which does a far better job of retaining historical data than I do. Sure enough, the numbers, right now, show that we are still looking at a low inventory of houses, condos and lots on Sanibel compared to years prior to 2021. In recent years, our Covid years, the inventory of properties was unusually low.
The numbers below represent the houses, condos and lots listed for sale as of January 1 of the given year. My belief is that our 286 number as of January 1, 2024 is likely to grow as we get into February and March as more properties are restored and more Condos sort out their insurance and re-build timeline. The question for us is whether the potential buyers for these properties believe that now is the time to buy. Only time will tell but for now – we are looking pretty normal.
Source: Southwest Florida MLS
