Something Big is Happening in Key West Real Estate

If you're one of those would-be buyers who spends too much "work time" sitting in front of your office monitor searching new listings or back-on-the-market listings on the Key West Association of Realtors mls website or scavenger sites like Zillow or Trulia, you may have noticed two separate phenomena.  First, many of the recent higher priced listings have gone under contract within a matter of days after being listed. Second, many of the listings that have seem to have been "one the market forever" have also recently gone under contract. I think we are going through another "I'm gonna get my Key West house before they are all gone" phases. There is a paucity of listings, especially of nice homes in good condition in the best locations. People with money are grabbing up the few places on the market. This is especially true of homes priced in the million dollar price range or higher.

There are a total of 29 houses priced at $800,000 or higher that are classified as contingent or pending closing at a median price of $1,299,900. Just this week our office placed 620 Elizabeth Street (offered at $4,595,000) under contract after just 44 days on the market.  Two blocks down the street 809 Eaton Street (offered at $1,995,000) went under contract in just four days. 1021 Washington Street which has been on the market 1749 days (offered at $2,750,000) went under contract. 1109 Windsor Lane (offered at $2,175,000) went under contract after 2075 days on the market. The new listing at 824 Fleming Street (offered at $2,499,000) went under contract in 36 days of the listing date. Two new developments are selling multiple units in lighting speed - Southermost Cabana Resort Townhomes in the 1000 block of Simonton Street (offered in the $800s and $900s) and Old Town Villas in the 100 block of Simonton St (offered at $1,599,000 and higher).  CLICK HERE to see what is being purchased.

If you have been sitting on the sidelines it might be time to take some action. I don't think prices are going to go down. I'm pretty confident they are going to go up. If you are not able to purchase a property right now, don't fret. There will always be new properties on the market because life events like divorce, job changes, foreclosure, and so on. The thing about buying now versus waiting until the future is you don't know for sure what will be available nor when or at what price. As a buyer you are in control of how you deal with the present. Just keep in mind there a lot of people just like you sitting in front of their computers looking at the same listings ready to pounce. If you snooze, you may lose. It is a good time to buy in Key West.