Friday, April 10 2009
Ok - I admit it - I am a Sanibel Island Realtor and I am always optomistic! There, I said it - I am optomistic. This time it is about some of the signs we are seeing, nationally and locally about the state of Sanibel Island Real Estate.
On the national scene, the stock market has been posting fairly consistant gains and yesterday we saw all the indices rise with some good news about retailing and even - banking! It is commonly believed that the stock market begins to rise about 6 months before an economic turnaround so, given that we have about 5 more months to go. The interest rates continue to be low and the credit, that has been strangling the most credit worthy of folks, is finally loosening just a bit! The employment data is really the big wild card. With so many jobs being shed it will dampen any uptick in the retail improvements - but time will tell. Having been a victim of the 1991 recession, being laid off, I can only tell you that things do improve and businesses respond in healthy ways
Locally - our tourist season on Sanibel has been healthy. Most businesses are reporting the same if not a bit improved figures over last year. And in Real Estate - we are seeing deals coming together. After one of the slowest starts in a very long time, we are now finally seeing properties go under contract. Since the beginning of the year, the low end is where the activity has been and now it is moving to the middle and high end. It is quite exciting to see. Personally I have a number of clients looking at coming down in May and June to look in earnest. There is a ground swell of opinion that the bottom, of the Sanibel Real Estate market, may at last be in sight. So maybe I'm not the only one who is optomistic!