Ocean Sound, Community One Block Behind Fletcher

The current environment for buying a single-family home on Amelia Island priced under $500,000 in one of the popular beach neighborhoods has become very competitive for prospective buyers. A busy spring market (a time when many of the available island homes sold), combined with not enough supply of new listings for the current heavy buyer demand, has created a challenging atmosphere for buyers.

In particular neighborhoods on Amelia Island -- homes in the coveted communities near the beach (within several blocks to the beach), it’s a seller’s market. Some homes on the island are getting competitive offers and sales contracts in one day to a few days.

65% OF "NEW" LISTINGS FROM JULY 24TH TO AUG. 23, 2004 (PRICED UNDER $500K) GOT CONTRACTS IN 30 DAYS OR LESS

In reviewing homes going on the market (new listings in the Amelia Island/Nassau County MLS) for the past month, I tracked the new “active” listings to see what changed status to “contract pending” within a month. This analysis showed that 38 new residential listings located on Amelia Island were added to the Amelia Island/Nassau County MLS from July 24 to August 23, 2004. Twenty, or 53% of 38 new listings (homes) got a contract within a month. Of the 26 new listings priced under $500K, 17 homes or 65% got contracts in less than a month. But in popular beach subdivisions, it’s only a matter of days.

Walkable Beach Access Is What Many Buyers Seek

PHONES “RINGING OFF THE HOOK” AT AMELIA ISLAND REAL ESTATE FIRMS

After the busy spring market, Amelia Island Realtors reported an onslaught of calls from prospective buyers from July into August. Realtors from both local independent firms as well as national franchises indicate that the heavy volume of buyer inquiries has been daunting to keep up with.

HOMES “WALKABLE TO BEACH” ARE HOT SEGMENT OF MARKET!

Amelia Island is small barrier island (only about 13 miles long and about 2 miles wide – roughly the size of Manhattan Island). Even though Amelia Island is a small geographic area, homes with a price tag under $500K in certain parts of the island -- in closest proximity to the beach -- are particularly desirable to today's buyer, and getting contracts at a feverish pace.

PERCEPTIONS DIFFER ON WHAT "NEAR THE BEACH" MEANS

***image1***From buyer to buyer, there are differences in what each considers "close to the beach." It's a matter of personal perspective. People from interior states within the US who currently live nowhere near the seaside are more likely to feel that ANY location on Amelia is very close to the beach (afterall, it IS an island). To further define “near the beach or walkable to the beach,” from a local perspective, these are the homes located within a few blocks of the ocean. Some of these neighborhoods sit behind Fletcher Avenue such as Ocean Cay, Ocean View, and Ocean Sound, for example.

BUYERS WAITING IN THE WINGS

Realize that some listings are being entered into the MLS as a “new” listing and “pending contract” simultaneously, meaning some Realtors listing property already have a buyer waiting in the wings.

DEPENDS ON THE HOUSE, NEIGHBORHOOD, PRICE

But, there are homes farther from the beach that are also selling quickly. It also depends on the house, the neighborhood, and definitely the price. For example, just this month, a small home built in 1939 located near downtown Fernandina Beach on North 18th Street was listed for $275,000 and got a contract in two days. Small 3-bedroom homes priced under $200K in neighborhoods like Lakewood, Pirate’s Bay, and Egan’s Bluff North – all clustered together off Will Hardee (a central island location) -- are also getting contracts in a week or less. Even in Old Town on the island away from the beach, two small homes built in 1924 and 1900 (837 square feet and 1,308 SF) went in the MLS simultaneously as a “new” listing and “contract pending” listed at $160K and $185K (being sold “as is”).



TAKE A LOOK AT RECENT ACTIVITY

Beach Walk Neighborhood, One Block Behind Fletcher

Examples of other recent simultaneous “new/pending contract” listings – (meaning the listing Realtor got a sales contract for the property before it was added to the MLS as a new listing):

South Fletcher Avenue, listed at $545,000
Ocean Oaks Drive, listed at $382,000
Atlantic View Drive, listed at $300,000
Tarpon Ave., listed at $239,000
Inverness, listed at $200,000
Captain Kidd Drive, listed at $185,000

THE AFFORDABILITY FACTOR – ABOVE HALF MILLION

On the other hand, there are homes on Amelia Island that are still taking several months to even a year or two to sell. Some homes falling into this category are those priced above half a million dollars and are generally not located oceanview or oceanfront. For one thing, there's a lower percentage -- fewer buyers -- in the marketplace who can afford to purchase real estate priced over $500K. By comparison, many more buyers in the marketplace can afford property in price ranges under half a million. For the very high-end homes, $2 million-plus waterfront estates (oceanfront or intracoastal/river front), it takes a longer period of time to find a luxury home buyer at that level.

OCEANFRONT AND OCEANVIEW HOMES, LOTS ALONG FLETCHER AVENUE

A recent search of the Amelia Island/Nassau County MLS indicates that the 14 properties for sale with a Fletcher Avenue address, had an average list price of $715,518 (note this excludes condos). Anyone familiar with Amelia Island knows of Fletcher Avenue, the main beach road that runs from the northern tip of the island (North Fletcher) toward the southern-end of Amelia Island (South Fletcher). Fletcher runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean and offers much of Amelia Island’s ocean “front” and ocean “view” properties. Along Fletcher Avenue there is a mix of single-family and multi-family dwellings, running the gamut from tiny, older beach cottages needing renovations, to larger oceanfront estate homes.

LIFESTYLE ISSUES – MAINTENANCE-FREE LIFESTYLE APPEALS TO MANY

Example of Patio Home, Amelia Island

Furthermore, in general, often homes above $500K also tend to be larger homes in many cases. The larger the home and the higher the price, the longer the home will likely be on the market. As compared to a condo, townhouse, or a patio home, a larger single-family home with a yard is indeed perceived by some buyers as being too much maintenance.

Many of the prospective buyers in the Amelia Island marketplace are buyers seeking a second home/vacation home. Some are retirees (or pre-retirees buying at today’s prices for a home they intend to retire to within 5 years or so), who seek a maintenance-free lifestyle. They already own that big home in another state and want to either downsize and/or have a more carefree retirement with the home they buy in Florida.

OUT-OF-TOWN BUYERS

For out-of-town buyers (a large segment of the buyers interested in Amelia Island), it’s currently a challenge for those interested in the beach neighborhoods. Even if a Realtor sends prospective buyers the MLS reports for “new” listings via eMail, many properties that an out-of-town buyer intends to see when they arrive on the island are already under contract by the time they step off the plane (or drive from Atlanta).

Popular Style of Amelia Island Homes

The average price of a single-family home on the island was around $330K for the first half of 2004. However, if the high demand/low supply situation continues here on Amelia Island in the $500K and less price range, home values (which have already appreciated substantially during the past few years) will likely be driven up further at a more rapid pace than in the past. Every new listing that comes on the market in the popular neighborhoods will likely be listed at higher and higher prices, since there are buyers waiting to get a home and willing to pay to be able to acquire a property on the island close to the beach. Homes will sell at what the market will bear, and when there’s a competitive bidding situation, prices are pushed higher than comparable sales comps – i.e. other homes that have sold in the same neighborhood, even if the prior comparable sale was only a month or two ago.

AMELIA ISLAND OCEANFRONT CONDOMINIUMS

All this discussion has been in reference to residential (single-family) homes. So how’s the market for oceanfront condos on Amelia Island? There’s a shortage of condos, too -- whether they be oceanfront condos in upper price ranges or small interior island condos priced under $200K.

As of August 30, 2004, a search of the Amelia Island/Nassau County MLS indicates that there are only six oceanfront condos for sale on Amelia Island priced $1 million or less. In the $1 million to $2 million price range, prospective buyers seeking an oceanfront condo on Amelia Island have only 7 condos to currently choose from. For perspective, let’s take a look at just one resort condo complex and compare market supply a year ago to current market supply. A year ago, there were more than a dozen condos for sale in Summer Beach, Ocean Place condominiums, in the three oceanfront condo buildings (105 total units), located next door to the Ritz-Carlton. Currently, there are zero MLS listings for sale in Ocean Place.

At the lower-end of the condo market, the small, interior condos located on Amelia Island away from the beach and priced under $200K, are also short in supply on the market and the new listings are often selling in less than a week.

AMELIA ISLAND REAL ESTATE MARKET FOR SERIOUS BUYERS

So the Amelia Island real estate market is for serious buyers, who are prepared to act swiftly when (and if) they find a home or oceanfront condo they’d like to purchase. (Also see related article recently published in Amelia Island Living eMagazine titled “Advice for Buyers – An Amelia Island State of Mind.”)

Amelia offers small-town coastal living with 13 miles of beaches, charming historic district of Fernandina Beach, world-class golf, and luxury resorts -- the Ritz-Carlton and Amelia Island Plantation. Yet Amelia is located close to the big-city amenities of Jacksonville, Florida with the Jacksonville International Airport only a 30-minute drive away.
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Real estate columnist, W. B. Lawson, is licensed to sell real estate in Florida and attended the Florida Real Estate Institute, is a member of the National Association of Realtors as well as the local Amelia Island/Nassau County Association of Realtors. Send eMail to: contact@ameliaislandliving.com.

Source of listings data: Amelia Island/Nassau County MLS, new listings for the period 7/24/2004 to 8/23/2004. Information is deemed reliable but may contain errors and is not guaranteed. Note that there are some Amelia Island Plantation "in-house" properties listed with the Plantation's real estate office exclusively, and these listings are not included in MLS data/statistics.
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