Mele Kalikimaka, Seasons Greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, & Happy 2022, too!
“Home for the Holidays” creates different images in all our minds. I grew up in a large family, I was number six out of the seven children. Added to that we also moved many times in my childhood, as in I lived in six different states by the time I graduated high school. As my older siblings graduated high school, they either moved away to go to college, or we moved. So, the holidays meant my sisters and/or my brother were coming home for the holidays! I loved it when the house was full again with my siblings. Ray on the other hand had the idyllic upbringing of growing up in the same house his entire childhood. For Ray, home for the holidays meant huge family events with his cousins and aunts and uncles. Now fast forward, we both still love a house full of people at the holidays, playing games, laughing, cooking, and just sharing life together.
In real estate I find most people are picturing home for the holidays when they are house hunting. Ray and I will be showing houses on a 100 degrees-in-the-shade kind of July day and we will overhear, “We could put the Christmas tree in that window.” Or, “Is there enough room on the counters to make pies (cookies, gingerbread houses)?”. They are sweetly picturing the HOME all merry and bright. And there are conversations of, “When all the kids and grandkids come down for the holidays is there enough room for everyone?” YES, the answer is YES! If your house is full of air mattresses and laughter, that is a jolly good time. Remember, this is Florida, and you can move the dining room table outside! Naturally, with so many relocating here, winter traditions are allowed to be different. Take the ugly Christmas sweater party, which can be rough to pull off in a tropical climate, you can crank down the ac to about 60 degrees or perhaps have an ugly Christmas t-shirt party. How do you decorate for the holidays? Do you put up inflatable snowmen, or create seashell-men? Some may find missing their old familiar traditions difficult but there are so many festivities and so much merriment to be found all around the area! Speaking as one who moved many times and had to adapt, you can blend your old traditions into new tropical traditions. Once you have watched the sun set over the Gulf of Mexico on New Year’s Eve or strolled the beach while listening to the waves on Christmas Day your heart will warm as your toes are in the sand and you’ll ponder a kind-of-Grinch-like-ponder...Christmas comes to Florida and It came without cold! It came without ice! It came without galoshes! It came without mittens! or coats!
Enjoy this Said Yes to the Address--it is a jolly good story!
Ray and I hope you are blessed with the gifts of health, joy, and peace now and throughout 2022.
Check out these festive Holiday events in the area...
In Punta Gorda: look at Christmas Lights by boat tour
In Sarasota: Selby Gardens Lights in Bloom
In St. Pete: Christmas Light Maze
Christmas Choir Performance in Venice
Local RUM distiller offers tours
Real Estate Market News December 2021
Check out the comparison between 1981 real estate stats and 2021, what has changed in 40 years? Well, one stat that made me giggle a bit was the “internet search”: 1981 0% and 2021 95%. In the 80’s the idea that we could find anything and everything on the world wide web was a Star Trek’esque concept. And look at the stat for the dear ol’ newspaper: 22% in the 1980’s to now only 7%. I found the age of the first-time homebuyer going up by four years interesting. I really liked seeing that single women now make up nearly 20% of all home sales. This infographic highlights in a simple way the real estate market is ever changing. Just as our automobiles change, our understanding of nutrition changes, daily the stock market changes, it’s all in constant change. The real estate market it on an upward trend and aiming for its new plateau. When will we find the new plateau? When inventory catches up to demand. Will there be a big shift in housing prices? Analysts don’t seem to see a negative shift coming, unless something serious happens to the economy. So, for now we are in a strong sellers’ market. Ray and I hope you know this, when you have questions about the market you can call us. If you want to know what your house is worth, let us know. Ray and I are here for you, researching housing trends, market facts, and real estate data. Buyers if you are going with the wait-and-see tactic about buying hoping prices will come down, well, there really aren't any indicators that will happen. And sellers if you are considering selling and enjoying the wonderful equity you have, let’s sit down chat about all the possibilities. Good information and solid data will lead you home to great decisions.
The infographic below shares the stats for November. Data provided by our Stellar MLS. Again in November the average sales price increased by 1%.
Let's look at the luxury market along the Gulf of Mexico!
This includes both condos and single family homes:
(click the links to see these fabulous homes located along the Gulf of Mexico)
Sarasota County: 41 active on the market priced from $489k to $20m
Take a look at this beautiful $5M condo in Sarasota
Manatee County: 11 active on the market priced from $875k to $16M
This home on Anna Maria is offered at just over $16M
Charlotte County: 4 homes on the market priced from $325k to $2M
Fabulous condo in Englewood priced at $510,000
(the homes I provided are not listed by Ray and me, they are listed by Coldwell Banker Realty.)
Below are links to information we thought might be of interest to you regarding the market...
Do you want to know what your house is worth? Click here!
2022 thoughts from the National Association of REALTORS
For Buyers who are Financing this is GREAT info