Key West is on Fire - In A Way

Photo from Dale McDonald Collection December 1984 of fire at 1019 Duval Street.  The fire I am writing about is going on right now. Businesses are not burning nor are houses. The fire this time is the real estate market which got stifled after the world shut down in March in response to Covid 19. I remember the day I got a phone call telling me the city was shutting down. I said something like "They can't do that!" Followed by "What about all of the people staying here?" They can and they did. The tourists left. The main only highway into the Keys was blocked by the Monroe County Sheriff. People that did fly in were scrutinized before allowed to enter town.

On June 3, 2020 I posted a blog about the real estate sales for the first five months of the year. I limited my report to the Old Town and Casa Marina areas and compared 2020 sales going back to 2013. CLICK HERE. I knew prices had risen dramatically but suspected sales there would have been fewer sales in both areas in 2020. I was wrong.

The road block came down June 1st the tourists returned to town and the other Keys. It was gradual at first and then they tourists came back with a fury. I have gripped that the tourists have not been safe. That is a separate story. Today I am writing about real estate sales in the past 40 days.

A total of 37 single family, condos, and town homes sold/closed between June 1 thru July10 at an average sold price of $768,541. The least expensive sale was a small cottage condo at 1012 Varela Street that sold for $247,000 or $1,025 per sq ft. 714 Passover Lane (pictured above) originally listed at $1,536,000 sold for $1,080,000 cash. It was a fixer in a superior Old Town location. A house built in 2017 on Albury Street sold for $1,670,000 after having been on the market for three years. Another house on White Street which had been on the market since February 2019 starting at $2,100,000 sold for $1,650,000. A large number of the closed sales sat on the market for quite a long time period (two years or more) or were located in difficult locations. 

I noticed that nine of the sales were recent listings as opposed to some the aforementioned dogs. Four sold below $418,000 low priced houses seem to always sell first. Four properties sold between $540,000 to $600,000. One new listing from two weeks ago closed yesterday for $925,000 cash.

There are 70 properties identified in the MLS as contingent or pending at an average list price of $896,945. Several of these properties have been on the market for several months while others went under contract within ten days of being listed including ever-popular Truman Annex properties.

I have been talking to other Realtors who are reporting increased activity in their business. What was despair a couple of months ago has turned into enthusiasm as our real estate market improves. I know some potential buyers expected our prices to tumble. That did not happen. We do not have fire sale prices. We do have a return of active buyers.

If you are thinking of buying a permanent home or an investment property please think about call me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. (I also list houses.)