Key West Real Estate Sales Report - June 2020

Even before the world wide pandemic set in, it seemed to me that the Key West real estate market was taking a breather from the previous years of market upturn. Numerous businesses on Duval Street were vacant. I felt the market had paused. Buyers were waiting for greedy sellers to come to their senses and stop the over-reaching to which so many are inclined. Then the City of Key West and Monroe County shut down the city and access to the Florida Keys. US 1, the only road into the Keys, was road blocked. Vacationers were forced to leave the Keys. US 1 reopened on June 1st.  People have started to return. 

The real estate market did not cease to function after the lock down. There were new listings and some of those listings sold quickly. I did not sense that any of the new listings were panicked listings. There were many, many price reductions. One agent told me she lost seven deals where buyers pulled out after the shut down. So there is a mixed bag of upside and downside.

I performed a simple search of single family home sale in the Old Town and Casa Marina areas by number of homes sold, average sales price, and price per square foot for the seasonal time period of  January 1st to June 1st for each year starting in 2013 through 2020.

I defined Casa Marina as that area on south side of United Street to the Atlantic Ocean and the west side of White Street to Vernon St. I defined Old Town as the north side of United Street to the Gulf of Mexico and the west side of White Street to and including Truman Annex and Sunset Key. I did not include any sales east of White Street for either market area. I knew prices had risen dramatically but suspected sales would there would be fewer sales in each area in 2020. I was wrong.

CASA MARIA
 

Year	No of Sales	Avg Sales Price	Price Per Sq Ft
2013	7	$1,594,687	$581
2014	11	1,660,785	657
2015	8	1,452,000	704
2016	8	1,591,875	711
2017	8	1,804,000	693
2018	7	1,413,333	728

              2019                    5            1,389,800                    737
              2020                    9            1,191,899                    777


June 2020 Current Inventory of Unsold Single Family Homes on the Market
                                          8          $1,786250                      858

OLD TOWN

Year	No of Sales	Avg Sales Price	Price Per Sq FT
2013	65	$748,572	$501
2014	106	862,082	547
2015	73	952,065	633
2016	147	936,775	591
2017	46	992,965	700
2018	40	1,257,904	789

 
   2019                                    58           1,196,788                840
   2020                                    96           1,217,035                821

June 2020 Current Inventory of Unsold Single Family Homes on the Market
                                               64       $1,659,347                  836

I went back to recheck the 2013 and 2014 sales. I was amazed to see how many homes sold in those years and at the price appreciation that has occurred since then. I intuitively knew that many of those houses have sold once or twice during the six or seven years. But as I looked at the prices which they sold for then as compared to more recent sales, I was awed.

We continue to sell and re-sell the same houses as sellers die, divorce, or move-up to a larger home. Not all houses have appreciated. Some went down or side-ways. But most did appreciate.  The neat thing about owning a house in Key West is that you can use it.  You can escape the cold of up north, get away from the craziness, the cars, the noise, the chaos.

If you have been sitting on the sideline waiting for the axe to fall, you may want to rethink your strategy.  If you are looking a for a Realtor to help you find a place in Key West, consider calling me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West.