True Tales of Key West Real Estate in the Times of Covid 19 - Part Eleven

Most of America is breathing a sigh of relief these days. We are getting back to normal after months of quarantine, face masks, social distancing, not touching other people, and so on. I actually shook hands with potential buyers yesterday afternoon. The Key West  real estate market so brisk that there are few properties to write about. Many properties go under contract within a day or two of being listed. which makes blogging nearly impossible. I was looking through my old shoebox searching for subjects to write about when I found a collection of photos I took just before, the day of, and after Hurricane Irma including the one below. The photo shows a woman talking on a telephone with cord on it standing behind a trash can while other people watched her.

I was fortunate to stay at the Marquesa Hotel 414 during the hurricane along with several other locals including some of the hotel employees and and friends of the owners including an electrician. We were without potable water, electricity, and cell phone service for several days after the hurricane. I learned later that the news media incorrectly reported that much of Key West was severely damaged during Irma. We lost trees, but not buildings, and more importantly no lives at that time.

The hurricane lingered over the Island of Key West for several hours. I stood on the balcony for long periods of time. The winds were persistent but not intense - at least from where I was located. I ventured out to the street in early afternoon to survey the damage. I was shocked to see so many trees had fallen. This was not normal. It was devastating. I walked for blocks and blocks taking photos. Locals came out and wandered the streets eyeing the damage. We traded information on what had happened and where the worst damage was. It was like survivors of a zombie attach or something like that.

The next day the sun came out. The sky was cloudless. All the weather got blown to the north. Noting but sunshine, blue sky, and hot temperatures. And no phone service. The electrician who stayed at the hotel climbed the old telephone pole and dropped a phone line to which he attached an old wall mounted princess telephone. Within a couple of days word spread that there was phone service to the world and people showed up seeking a turn to call their loved ones.

I took the above photo during the renovation of the Marquesa 414 property added the location of the drop line for the phone. CLICK HERE to view the before and aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Key West. 

Key West bounced back from the hurricane and recovered from the pandemic. It is a great place to live. If you can find a place to rent or buy.

 

A Joy to Behold

The tree house of all tree houses, except, maybe, Kevin's from Home Alone. Located on a quiet street in the Mid-town area of Key West, it stood as sentinel for all that went on before the age of Ring Doorbells save it did not have a time-stamp video recording device. Imagine sitting up there with bros, binoculars, root beers, and keeping track of what is going on. Memories are made of this.

I think some big grown-up kid actually built that. What do you think? Imagine all the planning, buying lumber, hauling it to the house, measuring and cutting, hammering and puttering, that went into creating that kid's tree house. A joy to behold. 

I was driving in the area a few weeks ago and finally stopped to take a photo of the site for posterity. I knew the tree house was lost after Hurricane Irma. I know I reported we did not have any significant loss of homes in Key West. That is still true, but this loss is significant in a different way.  All the big boys who drive by this corner that remember what used to be must cringe every time they see that vacant space. I do.
 

Karen Komments on September Sales in Key West

 

I have been spending too much time on TWITTER and INSTAGRAM over the past six months. My business has been slower than I would like, but better than I expected. I decided to do a quick comparison of Single Family Home Sale in Key West for the first 15 days of September from 2017 thru 2020. 

Remember Key West was hit by Hurricane IRMA on September 10 2017 and that Puerto Rico was devastated by MARIA a week later. The  entire country watched countless hours of television coverage of both storms. Key West missed the devastation that destroyed so many homes only a few miles to the north. Not much else happened in Key West for the month of September 2017 which is the starting point of my inquiry.

Single Family Homes SOLD    YEAR    Number   Avg Price    Avg Price Per Sq Ft

                                                     2017        1               $680,000     $267

                                                     2018        15             $1,119          $731

                                                     2019        9                $955            $587

                                                     2020        12              $973            $613

All of these numbers relate back at least a month earlier than September of the year and more likely relate back two months or longer. Labor Day 2017 fell on Monday September 4th. Nobody I know works on the Friday before Labor Day Weekend. Hurricane Irma had been churning around in the Atlantic for the couple of weeks prior. It was predicted to hit somewhere in south Florida on Sunday September 10. About half of the locals evacuated. I stayed in Key West. I saw no use fleeing north along with 20,000,000 other Floridians. Almost all businesses including title companies and real estate closing attorneys closed. Most bars and liquor stores stayed open. Hurricane Irma made actual landfall on Sunday morning September 10th. Key West was without water or electricity for a least the follow week. That explains why there was only one closing during that fifteen day time period.

While the national media painted a bleak portrayal of Hurricane Irma damage to the Florida Keys, when tourists returned to Key West they saw a different reality. Town was spared significant damage. Sales picked up throughout 2018 including three high end sales that closed in early September 2018 which explains the higher average sales price.

There were only nine closings in same time period solds in 2019 - three less than 2018. Both the average sold price and sold price per square foot were down as compared to 2018. 

The year 2020 is probably the worst year of most of our lives. Most of us, no matter where we live, have been cooped up inside our homes for over half this year. Tourists were kicked out of the Keys during in March during our busiest time of the year. But the buyers came back as soon as the gates were opened. They started to buy houses once again. The closings for the first two weeks in September reflect an optimistic outlook for the future. There are 55 current contingent or pending single family homes shown in the Key West MLS with an average listing price of $1,084,940. I believe this reflects an optimism about the future of Key West. What happens in the national real economy will prove the correctness of my belief.  

I will stop right here and not going to become a Karen. There are enough of them.

Gary Thomas, Realtor at Preferred Properties Key West. 305-766-2642. Representing buyers and sellers.  And an occasional Karen.

                                       

Key West - One Year After Hurricane Irma

Key West has been my home since December 1993. I have stayed in Key West for each of the hurricanes since Hurricane Georges in 1998 which recurred while I was in Ft Lauderdale attending a real estate refresher course. I remember the drive back to Key West on US 1 - a trip that normally take four hours took ten. I decided never do that again.

In late August 2018 CNN and other media started to warn the public about Hurricane Irma as it formed in the Atlantic.  The enormous storm moved at a terribly slow pace as it headed towards Cuba and Florida. The storm was so wide that hurricane models were unable to predict the exact path it would take. As I recall CNN predicted a tidal surge of up to ten feet and warned of catastrophic disaster for Key West. Many locals who always stayed here decided to leave for Irma. I estimate that about 25 to 30 per cent of locals stayed in Key West - including me.

I drove around the island a couple times during the days preceding Irma's landfall. There was barely any traffic. Stores on Duval Street were boarded up. The hotels and guest houses were shut. Houses were shuttered. The high school parking lot was filled with cars in anticipation of flooding in low lying areas. The skies alternated between awesome blue with enormous cumulus clouds to gray and threatening as Irma headed our way. I hunkered down with a friend in Old Town. We lost power around 8:00 PM. I went to bed and woke up the next morning to mild but constant rain and wind which lasted for an eternity. I ventured outside a couple of times to test the conditions but decided to stay indoors because tree limbs were falling everywhere. Around 3:00 PM we went for a walk around Old Town and later drove to the Bayview Park and Casa Marina areas where I took photos of the damage. I thought it would be interesting for readers to compare the locations one year later.

One of the first sights I saw was a huge mahogany tree that fell across the 300 block of Simonton Street. That tree was one of many canopy trees we lost in the storm. In my opinion it was the loss of the trees was the biggest loss during this event.

The boarded up houses at 421 Simonton Street were being renovated when the hurricane occurred. They were not damaged. The renovation has just been completed.

The Curry Mansion lost a huge tree at its front entry. The building did not appear to have sustained any visible damage.

Another huge tree located at the corner of Caroline at Simonton Street had fallen. The former Banana's Foster property on the corner was not damaged.

I walked to the corner of Eaton and Elizabeth Streets where a new property at 700 Eaton was being built and the historic house at 704 Eaton was being renovated. Neither was damaged. The renovation was recently completed and the house at 704 Eaton was listed for sale. It went under contract in just seven days on the market.

A massive tree located on the side of the Eaton Street Fish Market fell across William Street. The uprooted tree hoisted a propane tank up about ten feet off the ground. I turned around and looked south on William Street where a huge mahogany blocked the 500 block. I walked east to Margaret Street.

When I neared got near the corner of Margaret and Southard Street I saw a banyan tree leaning against the Harris School. As I got closer I saw several more trees had fallen on the school grounds. The building was not damaged. I walked west on Southard Street to checkout two nearby houses I had sold. Both houses were fine, but the owner of one beautiful home lost his prized Date Palm.

The biggest shock of the afternoon occurred when I reached the corner of Southard and William Streets. I had always considered the 600 block of William Street to be one of the prettiest streets in Old Town. Irma changed that. Two giant banyan trees fell onto the late Shel Silverstein's house which was badly damaged. The house was razed several months later. This is the only house I am aware of that we lost. There was minor damage to three abutting properties. 

I walked south on William Street to the corner of Windsor Lane where I looked to my right and saw two huge trees had fallen at the Key West Writer's Compound.  The trees were located on either side of the former home of author John Hersey. The trees took down the fence and crushed a motorcycle parked on Windsor Lane. I sold this historic home several years ago. I walked around the property and determined it was not damaged. The fence was rebuilt. The owners now have sunny views.

The 1100 block of Fleming Street (between Frances and White Streets) was closed for more than a week because two enormous banyan trees in front of 1117 Fleming Street fell onto the street. One big limb damaged the porch of the adjacent house which is now being repaired.

Later I drove over to the 1400 block of Virginia Street to checkout a house across from Bayview Park. I had this house a couple of years ago and wanted to make sure it was okay. Two big trees snapped in half. The house did not have any visible sign of damage.  The city did not take the trees down.

I then went to the Casa Marina area where I saw another giant banyan tree located at 1100 Flagler Avenue had fallen. This is the former home of author Judy Blume. The current owners are now extending a brick fence to add more privacy to this home.

The house under construction in the 1000 block of Washington was not damaged and was recently completed and is now being lived in.

"X" marks the spot at the corner of Washington and Whalton Streets where one of the tallest and most majestic trees in Key West fell. It took the city more than three weeks to remove the tree. The tree was located on the public right of way. The city requires property owners to pay significant fees to obtain permission to remove trees during construction. These funds are supposed to be used pay for replacement trees. The city has not replaced anything at this location. Double loss!

CLICK HERE to view photos I took before and after Hurricane Irma.

Key West is back to as normal as Key West can be. We have a lot less trees than before, but we have as many houses less one. This is a great place to live. Come down and checkout Key West.