Bill Gillhespy Fort Myers Beach Realtor

It's always tempting to try to guess the absolute moment when the housing market bottoms out ! It is even more challenging here on Fort Myers Beach, Florida because ours is a destination/vacation area . Based on activity in Century 21 Tripower's office: walk-ins, attendance at open houses, showings and properties going under contract it seems clear that, at the very least, we are bouncing along the bottom ! The bottom line is that this may well be the beginning of the rebound for our local real estate market !

Our " season " is just starting and already we have seen a marked increase in all of the important sales indicators. The following article is from the Florida Assoc of Realtors ( FAR ) where official data on sales of homes & condos is tracked and released Jan 25, 2009

I am often asked how the Fort Myers Beach market is doing by people trying to guess if this is a good time to buy or sell. During the last 90 days my answer has changed dramatically. Before it was a cautious " Yes " for buyers and a " Do you have to sell now ? " for sellers. Both answers were based on my daily interaction with the market here in Southwest Florida. Increasingly, reports from various sources indicate that our market ( Fort Myers Beach, as well as some others ! ) shows a significant increase in all measures: number of walk-ins, scheduled showings, open houses and listings under contract.

The lower end of the market ( under $300K ) appears to be the most robust while two of our office listings over $1,000,000 also went under contract ! Hopefully, the market is starting to respond to all of the pent up demand !

The other notable item is a dramatic shift from financed purchases to all cash purchases. My last 4 contracts were with " all cash " buyers. My lender friends also report a similar shift. Below is a repri9nt from the MARCOEAGLE on the local market activity.

Existing single-family home sales in the Fort Myers area rose nearly 182 percent in December.

There were 1,034 homes sold, up from 367 a year ago, through the multiple listing service, or MLS, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc.

Short sale and bank-owned homes continue to influence market prices. The median price dropped to $97,750 last month - below where it was in 2003.

In December, there were 10,326 single-family homes for sale through the MLS. That's nearly a nine-month supply. A year ago, there was nearly a two-year supply of homes on the market.

There are 1,178 properties pending for sale, up 137 percent from a year ago.

"Earlier in the year we predicted that sales of existing single-family homes for the year would surpass 2003 and 2007 levels. We are extremely pleased that in fact, the sales pace was much greater than anticipated as we surpassed 2004 sales by 6.5 percent and 2006 sales by 7.1 percent," said Realtor Association President Suzanne Sherer in a news release.

"We believe that sales volumes will continue to grow as lenders have priced properties aggressively to move them and now that inventory levels are under nine months, we expect that many properties will receive multiple offers."

Attention all golfers ! Make plans to be part of the Fort Myers Beach 22 nd Annual Golf Open on Saturday, January 10, 2009. Held at the Fort Myers Beach Golf Club. Start time is 8 AM. Cost: $60 includes Fun, Food & Prizes. Winn $500 at the Ball Drop ! Entry Deadline: Wednesday Jan 5, 2009 Call for details: 239 454-7500.

Fort Myers Beach Saturday November 22, 2008 St. Raphael's Episcopal Church, located on 5601 Williams Dr on Fort Myers Beach is having their delicious Shrimp Boil Saturday November 22, 2008 from 5-7 PM. The dinners feature wild caught Gulf shrimp. cole slaw, corn bread, baked beans, coffee, beer, wine and ice cream for desert. If you like shrimp, the real kind direct from the Gulf of Mexico, you owe it to yourself, family and friends to try this eating experience. Cost is $15.00 and payable at the door. Dress is casual. Just bring your appetite and a smile ! Posted Saturday November 22, 2008 Wild caught shrimp have an amazing taste and texture ! You will not settle for the farm raised variety again ! Come, enjoy !

This past week marked the 22nd annual Fort Myers Beach Sand Castle Championship event. I was honored to be invited to be the " Site Manager " for the Holiday Inn portion of the competition ! As site manager one of my responsibilities was to make sure the carvers had the tools and materials needed to actually build one of these incredible sand structures !

Each participant is provided a pile of beach sand inside their plot. The sand on Fort Myers Beach is considered by many carvers as the best in the world. Work starts by shoveling several inches of sand into the form followed by buckets of water. This is heavy, brutal grunt work as they are not allowed to use helpers.

Men and women compete equally in the " Masters " and State divisions. Time is carefully monitored and the initial " pound-up " lasts for several hours before carving can begin. Shovel, water, tamp. repeat !!!

After the form is as high as needed the top form is removed. Cross your fingers hoping that it doesn't collapse ! Carving is done with a variety of tools. The sand is kept moist with spray bottles while the image begins to take shape. Carvers use a variety of pictures, sketches and inspiration to develope their final sculpture.

Up to this point only sand and water are used. The layers of sand, water and heavy tamping give it strength to support additional forms and the weight of the carver. When fine details are added and the sculptor is happy with the results thay are given a solution of diluted Elmers' White Glue to spray on the finished work. The diluted glue penetrates the sand and forms a crust somewhat like the coating on an M & M's candy. It serves to capture the moisture within the sculpture. Without it the sand would continue to dry from the sun and wind and would result in ...well, a pile of sand !

In case you are wondering, Yes, sometimes the dang thing collapses! Typically it happens during removal of a form. It is a disaster of course but during this years' event there were about 6 collapses among 22 Masters sculptures. In every case the carver took a moment to reflect on the collapse and then set about sarting over on another !

The event drew 22 Masters level competitors, 7 State level and many amateures plus approx 80,000 visitors. The final sculptures amazed everyone. Today we start planning for 2009 !