Maintaining the Interval

Yesterday's report indicated there were a total of 5 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Cocoa Beach. There are drive-up testing locations elsewhere in Brevard County for those who meet the stringent qualifications for testing. Most people I see in Cocoa Beach seem to be observing good distancing practices. On-street parking downtown is empty and a few people are strolling about or picking up to-go orders from the downtown restaurants. I usually see a handful of well-spaced people waiting outside Surfinista for pickup orders around lunchtime. My household has gone to Instacart delivery for groceries from Publix and the experience so far has been excellent. I made a dash into Coastal Produce a couple of days ago for fresh produce and was the only customer in the store. The only employee I saw was the cashier who was wearing a mask as was I. Incidentally, they had toilet paper for sale.

Among the restaurants adapting to the shutdown, Papa Vito's has really excelled at stepping up their game. They were early to adapt to the coronavirus shutdown by offering a free roll of toilet paper with every pickup or delivery and are now offering produce, meats and paper products for delivery or pickup in addition to pizza and Italian dishes. They will surely be among the restaurants who survive after the shutdown. The 4th Street Fillin Station is another who has excelled at transitioning to takeout only. Their Instagram is worth following just for the photos of yummy food and drinks. I encourage everyone to support your favorite restaurants during the shutdown if you want to be able to visit them again in the future. In addition to take out orders, gift cards are a great way to support them.

Fortunately our beach is still open for much needed exercise and fresh air with distancing being enforced. With all beach parking closed the beaches are practically empty. This was the beach yesterday at low tide walking back into south Cocoa Beach from Patrick Air Force Base. No distancing issue here.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.” ________John Donne

Sitting in Chairs Outlawed - Surfing Encouraged

Remember in the 90s when Fifer ran for Mayor of Cocoa Beach with a platform that included legalizing skateboarding? This was at a time when No Skateboarding signs were quite common around town. Times have changed. Cocoa Beach now embraces skateboarding and there is a skate park behind the school. Adding validation for our other board sport, Cocoa Beach has issued an Emergency Proclamation that specifically legalizes surfing during the beach restrictions related to cocronavirus. It is a welcome instance of common sense in our leaders' often bizarre responses to the outbreak. Thanks to Mayor Ben and the rest of our City leadership for the practical guidance.

Pursuant to the authority vested in me as Cocoa Beach City Manager by the City Commission of the City of Cocoa Beach, in accordance with Amendment #1, City of Cocoa Beach, Florida, Declaration of Emergency Proclamation, approved March 19, 2020, I hereby Order that all ocean beaches in the City of Cocoa Beach are closed to all activities except walking, jogging, biking, fishing, surfing and swimming.  Activities such as sunbathing, sitting in chairs, organized sports or laying on blankets and grouping of persons is not permitted.  A minimum of six foot social distancing shall apply.  When your activity is complete, you will be required to leave the beach area.  This follows State of Florida Executive Order 20-91, as modified by Executive Order 20-92, Safer at Home, specifically Essential Activities.  Beach parking, beach access parking, and the parking garage will remain closed.  Failure to comply with the Order may result in further restrictions being applied.  Fine for violation (pursuant to Cocoa Beach City Code Section 8.5-6) is set at $500.00 per occurrence.
          Done and ordered this 2nd day of April, 2020.

"The argument that the elderly and weak may just have to die to enrich the young and strong — painted as some sort of sacrifice, rather than a horrific outcome that we should fight against — is so bleak and hopeless. Lord, change hearts. Lord, protect the weak." __Haley Byrd

Let's Eat

Photo by Sara Cervera on Unsplash

If you're looking for some variety in your home dining during the restaurant shutdown, there are plenty of takeout and delivery options in Cocoa Beach. I took the current City of Cocoa Beach list of eateries offering pickup and delivery and added links to their websites where available. Just click on the name of the restaurant. I added Taco City and The Fat Snook who, while in Cocoa Beach, are outside the city limits and, for that technicality, not on the City's list.

I'm not familiar with some of these but after looking at the food pictures I'm gonna have to make an effort to work my way down the list for takeaway. If you own or work at any of these please check your link to make sure it's correct. If you're not included contact me to be added. Those without websites I chose not to link to their Yelp listing because of the buttholes who have ruined Yelp for all of us. Check out the ones you don't know. There are some hidden gems in our little town.

These are especially hard times for our restaurants and many are barely hanging on with takeout and delivery orders. If you order from any of these you will be helping them and their employees survive through these extraordinarily hard times. Maintain your intervals and be safe.

This list will be inaccurate almost as soon as published as some of these places are making the hard decision of whether to continue to offer takeaway or to roll it up until the virus shutdown is lifted.

1st St. Rick's Rollin Food Truck   321-917-5786
4th Street Fillin Station 321-613-2462
La Catrina Mexican     321-450-2010
Sergio's Tacos     321-450-4300
A.N.Y. Pizza     321-868-7177
Ice Cream Hut-   321-785-3000
IHOP     321-783-0620
New China    321-868-7588
The Skinny Mermaid     321-613-5079
Tropical Smoothie Café  321-868-7891
Acai Express   321-613-0900
Anacapri   321-868-2266
Beach Eatz   321-613-5176
Bistro at Courtyard by Marriott  321-784-4800
Brano’s Italian Grill   321-783-6031
Bula Kava   321-613-3252
Captain J's   321-783-1717
Coastal Produce    321-613-4663
Coasters Taphouse   321-613-3041
Dunkin Donuts-take out only
Flavors of India   321-613-3715
Florida’s Seafood Bar and Grill   321-784-0892
Frankie's Wings    221-452-5557
Hilton Cocoa Beach   321-799-0922
Island Time    321-613-4852
Little Z’s    321-613-0200
Jimmy Johns-Take out drive thru and deliveries
Juice and Java   321-784-4044
La Catrina Mexican Restaurant   321-450-2010
Long Doggers    321-613-0002
LUNA Food and Wine   321-613-5796
Mangia & Bevi Pizzeria    321-613-0691
Mexico's Grill    321-613-3850
Nolan's Irish Pub   321-783-8499
Nosh     321-450-2323
Pig and Whistle    321-799-0724
PizzaVola    321-613-4382
Pompano Grille 321-784-9005
Roberto's   321-874-1868
Salsas of Cocoa Beach    321-613-4382
Simply Delicious    321-783-2012
Slow & Low BBQ    321-783-6199
Starbuck’s    321-783-5404
Sunrise Diner   321-783-5647
Surfinista    321-613-3864
Taco City   321-784-1475 
The Fat Snook  321-784-1190
The Green Room Café    321-868-0203
The Tiny Turtle   321-446-7361
Flavour Kitchen and Wine   321-613-3573
Mambo’s    321-783-2271
Beachside Grill (Mike’s deli)    321-783-3354
The Fat Donkey- Pick-up and delivery only

Here comes sickness
Movin up my block
When she comes to my house
I hope she don't knock ______Mudhoney

Toilet Paper, Anyone?

The Atlas V yesterday launching into clear blue skies as seen from south Cocoa Beach.

Last week of March is typically the busiest week of the year. Things are different this year with many would-be visitors cancelling reservations and snowbirds departing early because of the corona virus. All bars are shut down and restaurants are doing takeout or delivery only. All beach streets and parking are blocked off and beginning today the beach itself is closed everywhere in Brevard County from 11 AM to 4 PM for Friday Saturday and Sunday. That could change. Traffic is very light and there are very few cars parked along the streets downtown. It's an eerie pre-hurricane vibe.

Not surprisingly, real estate activity has slowed dramatically. The last three weeks of February we were averaging 26 new residential contracts executed per week in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. That started slowing in early March and was down to thirteen last week. So far this week we are showing just nine executed contracts. The number of new listings so far does not appear to be changing. It's too early to tell if the reduced buyer activity has impacted prices. We won't see the impact in closed sales numbers until next month when this month's slowdown in executed contracts  will begin to be evident. As we're just now closing contracts from January and February, the March numbers are still looking good.

I'm hearing talk about changes in the secondary mortgage market which is being reflected in more stringent borrower requirements. Jumbo loans are particularly affected. Debt to income requirements have become more stringent as have credit score thresholds. Self-employed borrowers have a new set of higher hurdles to clear. Regardless ones situation, getting a mortgage now is more difficult than it was a month ago and some who could qualify last month may be rejected this month. Talk to your lender again if you're looking to purchase. The rules have changed and what you thought you could borrow in February may not be possible today. There is a strong possibility that we will start to see existing contracts fail to close because of these changes.

We've closed 50 condo units and 15 single family homes so far in March. Median price is just under $300,000 for condos and $540,000 for single family homes. Inventory for sale this morning is 225 condo units with an additional 21 in yet-to-be-built buildings, most of those in the Surf at Cocoa Beach downtown which is yet to break ground. There are 55 single family homes for sale in the two cities.

Vacation rental properties are being hit hard with cancellations due to the virus outbreak. If the beach closing is extended to include weekdays we can probably expect remaining rental demand from those within driving distance to dry up completely. Both grocery stores in Cocoa Beach are doing a seniors-only hour every morning to give us old folks a chance to snag a roll of toilet paper with relatively light customer density. I don't think they thought this one through very well as it isn't playing out as planned. A skewed to senior population means the old-timer hour is the busiest time of the day.

We are not under stay at home orders yet but that may be coming. I may have to actually clean out the garage if that happens. So far, we're eating really well and are treating the evening meal as the highlight of the day. Leisurely taking a couple of hours to prepare the meal is therapeutic and enjoyable.

Most restaurants in Cocoa Beach are offering curbside pickup for take-away including the Fat Snook. Growlers of draft beer and margaritas (among other drinks) are available for take-away with your food from the 4th St. Fillin Station downtown and at least one Cocoa Beach eatery is including a roll of toilet paper with every delivery while supplies last. Please support our eateries if you can. This is a hard time for those who serve and feed us. In lieu of ordering takeaway, consider buying gift cards to use later. Every little bit helps.

Best wishes to everyone and hope we can all emerge from this with the slightest of scars.

"It doesn't matter if you buy or sell today, the important thing is that you panic." __Josh Brown

Peak Snowbird

When golfing in Cocoa Beach in March players may occasionally hear a strange distant whirring sound. Local golfers are used to hearing the sound of the ocean when the wind is calm and the waves are big but this one is more a white-noise, static than the rumbling of distant surf. It's ducks, thousands and thousands of ducks. In the warm spring days as they begin their northern migration, huge flocks are moving back and forth between the Banana River and the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. They fly very high but the sound of thousands of wings is audible on the ground on calm days like yesterday. Pretty cool.

We are at the peak of snowbird season in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral and activity in real estate is busy as is always the case this time of year. Thirty nine residential properties have gone under contract since March 1. Lower priced properties have seen the most activity with 33 of the 39 asking under $400,000. Nine of the 39 are single-family homes, all but one in the under $420,000 range. During the same two week period 33 properties, contracted earlier, have closed. Eight of those were single family homes.

Sales of note included a nicely remodeled, 4th floor direct ocean Stonewood of Cocoa Beach Sand Dollar wide floor plan 2/2 that sold for $530,000 or $360 per square foot.

A remodeled & furnished 6th floor direct ocean SE corner 3/2 Beach Winds downtown Cocoa Beach sold for $434,000.

A small, remodeled ground floor, direct ocean 3/2 Sea Oats of Cocoa Beach sold for $325,000. It had no ocean view.

A partially remodeled direct Banana River 4th floor 2/2 Harbor Isles of Cocoa Beach sold for $275,000.

These are representative of the types and prices of condos currently selling. Those looking to purchase have a total of 220 condo units to consider in all price ranges. Potential buyers looking for a direct ocean unit asking less than $400,000 have five possibilities. If they want above the ground floor that drops to three units between $375,000 and $395,000.

As always, buyers need to have an idea what represents a fair price range for the type of property they're looking for. The opportunities to overpay for a Cocoa Beach condo are abundant, more so than at any time in the last several years. The majority of our for sale inventory is overpriced and uninformed buyers or those without an experienced local buyer's agent are at a disadvantage. Know this market or engage someone who does.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer weather this month. Expected to hit 80 again today. Please be aware of the poor golfers behind you. If you haven't had to wait on anyone ahead of your group but you see the guys behind you every time you look back, your group is probably playing too slowly. Thanks in advance.

“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you’re a good person is like expecting a bull not to attack you because you’re a vegetarian." __Dennis Wholey

Limited Review

There are a a total of 207 existing condo and townhome units for sale this morning in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. Readers of this blog and too few Realtors know that low inventory has been the new normal since 2012 when we first broke below 300 units for sale. At the time it seemed an unsustainable level and sure to rebound but that never happened and inventory has hovered in the low 200s ever since. In spite of the low inventory we have managed to close over three times the inventory every year since then. For eight years new supply has entered the market at exactly the same rate existing properties have sold.

Current demand is strong with 75 units going under contract since February 1, about a third of those are units asking over $400,000. February is the month when sales begin to ramp up every year and activity usually stays strong through August. Those looking for a condo unit should expect competition. An informed buyer will also be aware of the highly optimistic prices of the majority of the inventory. In a market with low inventory and high demand it is to be expected. Buyers who will be getting a mortgage should know that their lender will not be equally receptive to every condo they may consider. The association's financial health will be scrutinized and the intensity of that scrutiny may vary depending on the amount of down payment being made. Talk to your lender before you narrow your property search and find out what's going to be required so you aren't blind-sided by arcane and seemingly unfair lender questions that may eliminate your dream condo.

Happy Birthday to all the Leap Year babies. I'll go into detail about specific sold properties in the next post.

Cocoa Beach has a great new healthy eatery just south of  the Cocoa Beach Fire Station, the Skinny Mermaid, offering excellent poke bowls, wraps, salads and boba teas. It's worth a visit.

"Over the years, a number of very smart people have learned the hard way that a long string of impressive numbers multiplied by a single zero always equals zero." __Warren Buffet

Chirp, Chirp. They're Here.

Look who gave Greta a lift back to Europe, everyone's favorite sailing family, Riley, Elayna and young Lenny on La Vagabonde.

Firmly into snowbird season 2020 we sit this morning with 221 existing condo units for sale on the Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral MLS, a modest increase from our inventory levels of last year. There are another nineteen to-be-built, pre-construction offerings as well, most of those in the new luxury oceanfront building, The Surf at Cocoa Beach, to break ground shortly downtown.

January was slow for closed sales as is usually the case. We closed 38 condo units in our two cities in January compared to 40 in January 2019. Highest price sale was $603,500 for a corner unit at Majestic Seas with a median selling price of $240,000. Four oceanfront units commanded over $300 per square foot, all of them above the ground floor and with extensive remodeling. Sellers would be well-advised to remember that when they are pricing their units. An original condition 2/2 on the 5th floor with a magnificent view is not going to justify $300 a foot unless there is a Tesla being thrown in the deal.

Sixteen single family homes closed in the month, all in Cocoa Beach, none in Cape Canaveral. Highest price paid was $830,000 for a beautifully and completely remodeled four bedroom pool home on a canal with covered dock and boat lift. Half of the sixteen sold for more than a half million. Lowest price paid was $330,100 for a modestly updated but well-maintained four bedroom non-waterfront four blocks from the ocean.

I have had a slow but interesting start to 2020. I have been tussling with a minimal-contact buyer's agent who is also trying to be a mortgage broker for his client. As I expected, that distant lender failed to complete the loan but a local lender swept in and saved the day start to finish in less time than it took the the distant lender to get an appraiser to the property. Buyers are advised to use a local lender whenever possible. Rate shopping internet lenders may get a lower interest rate estimate but that saves nothing if they fail to close. That happens often enough that I would not consider using an out-of-town lender myself regardless the quoted interest rate.

The fairways at the Cocoa Beach Country Club recently resemble the scenes from Jurassic Park with herds of slow-moving herbivores roaming grassy plains. Those gentle giants in our case are our beloved snowbird visitors who do their best on our courses to teach us to slow down and smell the roses. I'm trying. I really am but as George W. used to say, "It's hard, reeeeeal hard."

"It’s so exciting. My son turned 14, and now he knows everything! Everything! I don’t have to tell him anything anymore because he already knows! In fact, he knows more than I do AND more than his dad does! We couldn’t be more thrilled. What a joyous time."  __Michele Tafoya

Here We Go Again

We begin the new decade with an inventory of 185 MLS-listed condo and townhome units for sale in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. That's less than we've closed since Friday the 13th in September. There were a total of 690 units closed in 2019 at prices from $53,000 to $1.625 MM. Median selling price was $245,000. Private sales like the Meridian unit that closed for $1.275 MM are not included in my MLS-sourced stats.

There were a total of 154 single family homes closed in the year in our two cities at prices from $192,500 to $1.995 MM with a median of $410,000. There are but 55 for sale this morning.

Total sales activity for 2019 trailed last year's record setting 734 condo units but was still among the four highest years since 2005. Not surprisingly the other three high years were 2016, 2017 and 2018. I see no reason to anticipate this trend slowing outside of some unforeseen macro event. Of course, those trend-influencing macro event are always unforeseen so a trend shift remains anyone's guess. Just less than half (48%) of the sold units closed for cash so a sudden surge in mortgage rates would be expected to have limited effect. Units that were priced fairly sold quickly with 138 units selling in the first week on the market. At the other end of the spectrum we had 105 stubborn sellers who overpriced their units and had to wait over six months to sell. A quarter of those took over a year to sell.

Construction will begin this year on the new oceanfront condo, The Surf at Cocoa Beach, in downtown Cocoa Beach on the vacant lot that has been empty since the storms of 2004 destroyed the shabby old condo building that was there. It's a welcome addition to our newly vibrant downtown area. Expect more new things downtown in 2020.

 I snapped the eagle pictured at the Cocoa Beach Country Club last week. We are used to seeing lots of ospreys, dozens of species of wading birds and waterfowl including the occasional roseate spoonbill but bald eagles are a rare sight. The Country Club is a true lootbox for bird watchers. The arrival of our largest winter population of migratory fowl, the northern snowbird, has begun. In addition to the Cocoa Beach Country Club golf courses another good location for viewing is Publix. The males tend to gather around the free coffee up front while the females forage throughout the store before competing, often savagely, for spots in the Express Checkout line. The usual trend is steadily increasing numbers through the end of March into early April when we reach our max number of visitors with converging snowbirds, spring breakers and baseball families here for spring training at the Expo. It looks to be another record setting season.

Anyone looking for their own little slice of Cocoa Beach is welcome to contact me with questions or advice or representation. I'm willing to share what I know about our special little town and am willing to offer an opinion about the rest whether I know what I'm talking about or not. Happy New Year, all.

"Concentrated risk is not compensated in the long-run." __unknown