Tag: condominiums

Condo Auction in Mexico Beach

tranquilharborTen condominiums in the prestigious and new Tranquil Harbour community on Florida’s beautiful Mexico Beach will be sold by absolute auction (regardless of price) on Saturday, May 2nd. The beautifully-designed units will be auctioned by The National Auction Group, Inc. of Gadsden, Alabama, an elite team of highly-trained specialists in the marketing of one-of-a-kind, high-end properties. The company has established a significant track record in recent months, selling more than $87 million worth of condos on the Gulf Coast from Panama City to Gulf Shores since last May. Also to be sold separately on auction day are a dozen lots on beautiful Cape San Blas.

Situated directly across from the Mexico Beach Pier, Tranquil Harbour consists of two three-story towers with all units enjoying mesmerizing water views. Options include two, three and four bedroom units. Each of the 10 condos is beautifully-designed and richly-appointed with the first class amenities one would expect at such a superb resort community. Featuring unique designs that are both attractive and functional, all units come with an assigned boat slip with quick access to the Gulf, as well as covered parking and expansive storage areas.

Tile floors and granite countertops add special touches of quality while the over-sized, open rooms with crown moldings and nine-foot ceilings offer plenty of windows to take full advantage of the wonderful vistas. In the kitchen are top-of-the-line GE Profile or equivalent appliances including microwave, self-cleaning oven, dishwasher and side-by-side refrigerator, as well as an undermount stainless steel sink. All condos have solid core interior doors, designer light fixtures, ceiling fans in living rooms and bedrooms and high quality faucets and plumbing fixtures.

Bathrooms feature framed vanity mirrors, a separate shower in the master baths, cultured marble vanity counter tops and tubs and raised height cabinets.

cape-san-blas-lots-aerial-1Located on the Florida panhandle, Mexico Beach is a community on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico but miles from anything else. Along this stretch of scenic Highway 98, there are no high-rises and no rush-hour; just breathtaking views of sea oats, white sand and the emerald Gulf water. You may stop for a family of beachgoers crossing the road, but never for traffic lights.

Visitors take part in swimming, kayaking, fishing, recreational diving, eco-tours or just plain old relaxing with a beach chair and a good book. When it comes to supper time, if you haven’t caught your own dinner, you can visit one of the many restaurants, either on the beach or across the street.

Nature lovers relish the bird watching and aquatic animals. Look for bald eagles in the winter months and loggerhead turtle hatchlings in the late summer. Dolphins dive through the waves all year long. Visitors can also explore the shops of Mexico Beach for souvenirs, artwork, antiques and fine clothing. For golf enthusiasts, St. Joseph’s Bay Country Club, just to the east of Port St. Joe, offers 18 holes of challenging play.

The 12 residential lots are on Cape San Blas which is located between Port St. Joe and Apalachicola and has been called one of America’s “Top 10 Beaches.” Several of the lots are located directly on the Gulf of Mexico amidst spectacular sand dunes and have breathtaking views of the aquamarine water that is unique to the Florida Panhandle.

“For someone looking for a good buy on a vacation get-away, business retreat or resort rental property, the condominiums and facilities at Tranquil Harbour offer an extraordinary opportunity to the discriminating buyer to purchase luxurious and picturesque accommodations on Florida’s Emerald Coast,” said William Bone, president of The National Auction Group, Inc.

The properties will be open for inspection by appointment beginning April 17th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling 1-800-503-0010 or (256) 547-3434. Beginning April 17th, call on site at (256) 504-5201 and (256) 504-6858. Those bidding on the condominium units will be required to pay 10% on auction day and must have $5,000 in certified funds for each two bedroom unit; $10,000 for three-bedroom units and $15,000 for the four-bedroom units. The Gulf front and Gulf-view lots will require $5,000 each. The auction will take place at Tranquil Harbor which is located at 101 36th Street in Mexico Beach.

Click Here for a printable fact sheet

Condo Re-Sales Plummet

Here at www.condosaletrends.com, our only job is to take the data and present the trends so market participants can make informed investment decisions.  So, no cheerleading, no anecdotal evidence.  The data takes us to where the data takes us.  We only track the sale of condo units within the 75 buildings along Thomas Drive and Front Beach Road (20,000 plus units) that are in our database.  The analysis covers this particular segment of the market.

The number of real estate sales over a defined period does not by itself tell us if the bottom is near.  However, the number of sales is a major factor in how supply and demand affects the market and merits analysis.   Be warned, the following analysis is not for the faint of heart.

Our goal in this post is to look at the number of sales in order to gleam knowledge, based on empirical data, as to “what the hell is going on” around here.  The “number of sales” or the “percentage of sales compared to listings” is not meaningful without comparing it to something.

The following table illustrates the number of arms-length condo sales from buildings in our database.  The Palazzo auction sales are not included because they would skew the trend.  What we really want know is how the auctions of unsold developer units may be affecting the larger condo resale market.

The August 2008 sales were down about 30% from the August 2007 sales and were trending downward from the 2008 May, June, and July numbers.  The next table shows the number of sales from June 1, 2008 to September 15, 2008 compared to the same time frame in 2007.  Because of the short time frame, the sales are broken into ½ month intervals.  These are the reported numbers as of 3:30 pm 9/17/2008.

There were only nine reported sales for the first two weeks in September 2008.  There were only three reported sales during the second week in September.  Granted, there may be one or two additional sales within this time frame that are reported in the coming days.  The data indicates that the trend in the number of sales is downward and steeply downward since late August.  We will have a better idea of the sales trend in October after all of the September data is in.

The Palazzo auction resulted in 48 sales.  As of 9/15/2008, public records indicated that 42 have closed.  There are anecdotal reports that Palazzo has additional post auction contracts which have not closed.  There are anecdotal reports that Sterling Breeze has 35 contracts based on some auction-type pricing, however none have closed.  Ocean Reef with 162 total new units (only eleven units have closed since opening in March 2008) is holding an absolute auction for 31 units on October 18th.

It appears that the process of transferring 1,200 plus unsold developer units to private ownership is adversely affecting the number of sales within the larger resale condo market.  In other words, those buyers who are financially able and willing to buy appear to be bypassing the Realtor/Seller relationship typical of most resale transactions and opting instead for the perceived discounts offered by the auctions or directly by the developers.

The data indicates that the number of sales of existing properties will continue to decline to levels we have never seen.  Resales just can’t compete in terms of age and price with all of the unsold developer units.
Put on your spurs and hold on tight.  This is going to be a wild ride.

Sam, www.condosaletrends.com