A Nice Looking Market

Real Estate is Looking Good on the Islands of Sanibel and Captiva

The coming year can be a good one for the real estate market on this island paradise. We have seen a pretty consistent growth pattern over the past five years – not spectacular growth, just a nice, comfortable growth. We have just completed a strong year in 2015. This year will probably not match that but performance should be on the positive side. Most market segments are down for the first quarter compared to last year. This is not too surprising since the first quarter last year was abnormally high. It was 50% greater than a normal first quarter. But, in terms of volume, the number of properties sold was about the same as for the first quarters during each of the past five growth years. Here is the first quarter comparison of 2016 vs 2015.

House sales were up on Captiva but down on Sanibel. Homes on the water did a bit better than those away from water. Condominium sales were down on both islands. The two and three bedroom units did better than the small, one bedroom units. Building lot sales were down on both islands. Not surprising since there is little land available to sell. Prices for single family homes increased on both islands. Condominium prices were stable on Sanibel and decreased on Captiva. The time it takes to sell a house or condominium has improved significantly on both islands.