Wake up – September’s finished

How bout that graph? September condo sales in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral spiked up considerably over the previous year with 45 closed MLS sales of condos and townhomes during the month. There were four closed single-family home sales during the month, all in Cocoa Beach. One surprising stat was the fact that, of the 45 condo sales, only five were short sales.

The lowest price condo sale was $13,800 for a foreclosed 1/1 Golden Gate Manor unit in Cape Canaveral that sold in 2006 for $82,500. That’s a mind-numbing 83% off the peak. The highest price condo sale was $555,000 for a never-lived-in Michelina 5th floor corner, 3/3, 2524 sq. ft. This same unit was asking $849,500 just one year ago. It was the only condo sale for more than $500,000 in the month. The adjacent, slightly bigger Michelina unit (not a corner) also closed for $450,000 or $177 per square foot. Not bad for brand new oceanfront, even if side view.

A 7th floor, 3/2 Crescent Beach Club in south Cocoa Beach closed for $325,000 which bumps the comps down slightly for that building which is well into a major and very expensive concrete restoration project.

Harbor Isles was on fire in September with five closed sales. Not surprisingly, the ever-present Betty Siegel was involved in three of those sales. Looking back over the stats for the year, there have been ten MLS sales in Harbor Isles. Of the ten, my office has represented one or both sides of eight of those transactions with Betty being involved in six. You go, girl.

Another Hacienda del Mar direct ocean 2/2, 4th floor with garage sold for $248,500. It was in original condition.

I was able to close a short sale at Cape Winds of a direct ocean ground floor 2/2 with the wide patio for $210,000, a new low for direct ocean units in this very popular complex. With this sale and two other pending short sales there, the other overly optimistic sellers will now have to come to terms with the new reality.

There were three sales in the month of 2 bedroom units at Ocean Woods in Cape Canaveral at prices from $129,000 to $155,000.

In head-scratching news, in a year in which a total of only 20 units have closed for over $500,000 ( half of those at The Meridian) eight pre-construction units in an unbuilt oceanfront building in south Cocoa Beach popped up on the MLS this week at prices from $800,000 to $1,050,000. The same developer is offering 16 other units in four different completed new buildings on the MLS, most or all having been reduced substantially in price. A+ for optimism.

Fishermen, the mullet run is back on in force. There are acres of mullet moving south along the beach with packs of predators in attendance. This is the best time of year for fishing from the beach with opportunities to catch snook, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, kingfish, trout, redfish and tarpon among others. Take advantage if you enjoy fishing but, whatever you do, enjoy October for all the other reasons that make this month my favorite of the year in Cocoa Beach.

“As my memory rests but never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends.”____Green Day

 

August sales

Sorry for the break in posts. I avoided the Labor Day crowd in the mountains of North Carolina.

The numbers are in for August. As you can see from the graph above, we have taken the first step off the seasonal sales cliff. After trending above last year’s numbers in June and July we had a total of 27 closed MLS-listed condos and townhomes in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral in the month of August, slightly behind last year’s 30 units closed. The sales ranged from $37,000 for a tiny Lamp Post efficiency in Cape Canaveral to $2.01 million for the entire top floor of Ocean Cove in south Cocoa Beach. This particular brand new unit was 6000 square feet with 4+ garage spaces and a private boat slip across the street on the Banana River. Shortly after this sale closed, the developer slashed over a million dollars off the prices of the remaining unsold units in the building.

Sales of note included a Meridian resale that went for $575,000, over a hundred thousand less than the new purchase price just two years ago. In south Cocoa Beach a fifth floor Crescent Beach Club south corner unit closed for $425,000. It was a three bedroom unit with 2278 square feet. Next door at the Constellation a 6th floor unit with 2419 square feet sold for $395,000 and a 5th floor south corner beautifully totally remodeled unit at Coral Sands went for $405,000.

A foreclosed Perlas del Mar in Cape Canaveral sold for $165,000, a remarkable $285,000 less than the new purchase price two years ago. A 2/2 townhome at Villages of Seaport closed for $107,000 as a short sale.

There were only four closed single-family home sales in the month, none for more than $200,000 and none on the water.

For those looking for direct ocean units in the lower price range, I can find 29 units this morning with at least two bedrooms asking under $300,000 that are east facing. Over-priced listings still dominate the declining inventory but gems are there for the patient. If you’d like a daily dose of new listings, price drops, sales and market news of note you can follow my Twitter feed. In case you missed it, snook season has opened and the fish are already on the beach feeding on the early schools of mullet making their annual run southward. Use a cast net to catch mullet from the beach, put one back out with a weight to keep it on the bottom and hang on for some of the best eating in the ocean.

Comments are welcomed on any of the posts here.

“When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” _________Jonathan Swift