Al Galletto’s June 2011 Newsletter

0 CommentsWednesday • June 22, 2011 • by Jason

The Anna Maria Island market continues to be one of those few pockets of positive Real Estate news around the country, maybe the world. When I hear the macro Real Estate news on the media there is a total disconnect from what’s happening here on the island. Sales for May 2011 continue to be strong with 33 properties sold (SF-15, Con-15, Dup-0 & Lot-3) up 14% over May 2010 at 29 (SF-20,Con-7, Dup-1 & Lot-1). Of the 33 sales in May 24% (8) were distressed, the same percentage as in May 2010. May 31, 2011 Y-T-D sales were 160 (SF-76, Con-68, Dup-6, & Lot-10) still up 20% over May 31, 2010 at 133 (SF-80, Con-37, Dup-10 & Lot-6). Of the May 31, 2011 Y-T-D sales of 160 only 13% (22) were distressed compared to the May 31, 2010 sales of 133, 26% (34) were distressed. Pended properties (properties under contract) continue to be strong at 61 (SF-32, Con-24, Dup-2 & Lot-3) with 40% (25) of them distressed properties. The inventory continues to move downward with 452 properties currently for sale (SF-222, Con-146, Dup-36 & Lot-48) and only 5% of them distressed (SF-7, Con-12, Dup-4 & Lot-1). The inventory is down over 100 since June of last year and the lowest it’s been since 2005. These are all good signs of a healthy market on the island.

Another one of Frank & Al’s great Buy’s from last month was put under contract, 458 63rd St listed at $299,900 an open water canal home on Watson’s Bayou. It was cash and will close on July 1st. Another open water bay front on Watson’s Bayou replaced it this month at 525 Key Royale Drive listed at $769,000. This 3 bedroom/ 3bath pool home has breath taking open water views and has a grandfathered weekly rental license until 2017. The lot value there is $700,000 based on a home four properties east of it that recently sold for $700,000 and they tore the house down. If you’re looking for a beach house to use periodically during the year that will produce great rental income than you can’t do better than 2916 Avenue E. If you’re looking for a home that will initially be a great rental but has all of the space and amenities to live in permanently latter on than 159 Crescent Dr or 4001 5th Avenue will fill the bill. Check out this month’s great buy’s and call me for more details.

To summarize the island market, it continues to perform at record levels of transactions. In at least the last 20 years we have had only 5 quarters of 100 transactions or more in a quarter ( four of those were in 2005) and it looks like we will hit one in Q2 of this year. The inventory on the island continues to drop and is at six year lows and 100 properties lower than a year ago. At the same time distressed properties remain at 5% of the inventory which is very low compared to the general condition of the inventory in Florida and the US. The low inventory also is reflected in the low number of good rental properties currently for sale. There currently are only seven properties for sale west of gulf drive under $1 Million in Holmes Beach and the city of Anna Maria. There are also only five lots for sale west of gulf drive under $700K. We are far enough in the year to have enough data to update all the charts which I’ve done for this newsletter and you can see the results are very encouraging for this market. As you can see from the chart of year over year change, the average sales prices for single family and condo’s flattened out during the last half of 2010 and are showing some slight increases in the first half of this year. If prices continue to rise modestly (and it won’t be obvious to most people for 8-12 months) and interest rates go up modestly the net result will be to pay significantly more for the same property. To put it into perspective, a property that you can buy for $500K now that you can get an 80% mortgage at 4.5% will have a principle & interest payment of $2,548, a total 30 year cost of $917,127. If prices rise only 5% and interest rates rise only 1% that same property will have a principle & interest payment of $2,932 and a 30 year cost of $1,022,372. That’s almost $400/month more for the same property.