Two-week sale surge ends in last week of July

After the real-estate-sales surge of 15 transactions for two consecutive weeks in mid-July, realty activity on the keys slipped back to seven for the final week of the month. This demonstrates the inconsistencies in the market’s struggle to come back.

None of the week’s seven sales recordings for July 27 through July 31 reached $1 million or more for the first time since the last week in May, although a Bay Isles home and a Tangerine Bay Club condominium each sold for slightly less than $1 million.

Tangerine Bay Club
Joy Moravitz, of Pittsburgh, bought Unit 229 at the 90-unit Tangerine Bay Club, 350 Gulf of Mexico Drive, for $980,000 from Sherry Dominick and her husband, Craig Wright, as both individuals and through their revocable trusts of New Haven, Conn.

The three-bedroom, three-bath apartment was built in 1992 and has 2,274 square feet of living space. The Wrights bought the condominium for $850,000 in March 2004.

Bay Isles
Mary and George Buermann, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their Bay Isles Unit 7 home at 3681 Bayou Circle to Guy-Pierre Poerck for $975,000.

The three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home was built in 2000 and has 3,060 square feet of living area and a swimming pool.

The Buermanns, originally from Essex Fell, N.J., bought the property for $172,500 in December 1996 before building their new home in 2000.

Sea Gate Club
Gloria and Harry Fuld, from Plainview, N.Y., purchased Unit 11-D in the 15-story, 90-unit Sea Gate Club tower on the Gulf beach at 2425 Gulf of Mexico Drive for $525,000. The sellers were Beatrice Krakoff and James Feibel, both individually and as co-trustees of Beatrice Krakoff’s and Louis Krakoff’s living trusts, of Columbus, Ohio.

The two-bedroom, two-bath condominium was built in 1973 when Sea Gate Club was constructed as one of the tallest buildings on Longboat Key. The other is the 15-story Islands West tower.

The condominium has 1,470 square feet of living space. The Krakoffs acquired the condo for $299,000 in March 1995.

Privateer North
A year after Sea Gate Club was constructed at 1050 Longboat Club Road, the twin-tower Privateer and Privateer North were completed. The 12-story towers contained 58 dwelling units in each building, or a total 116 apartments.

There was a sale at Privateer North in which Christine Morris and her husband, Gabriel DuMont Jr., of Boston, purchased Unit 903 for $370,000 from Lawrence Einhorn, of Indianapolis, and Roberta Jennison, of Clifton Park, N.Y.

The 35-year-old, two-bedroom, two-bath condominium has 1,409 square feet of air-conditioned living space.

Country Club Shores Unit V
In a sale between two corporate investment companies, MH Invest LLC, of Bird Key, sold the vacant waterfront property at 530 Birdie Lane in Unit V of Country Club Shores to Florida Capital Projects LLC, 501 Harbor Gate Way, for $360,000.

The deed of sale was signed by Michael Moulton, MH Invest’s manager.

The property last sold for $1.06 million in April 2005.

Whitney Beach
Unit 101 on the bayside of Whitney Beach was purchased by Barbara and John Thurston, of Orillia, Ontario, for $310,000 from Lynn and John Redd II, of Wilmington, Vt.

The two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 6700 Gulf of Mexico Drive was constructed in 1969 by the late Paul Neal, father of prominent local developer and former Florida Sen. Pat Neal.

The Redds paid $195,000 for the condominium in April 1999.

Lido Shores
Gerald Finger and his wife, Marguerite Dye, of Sarasota, sold their Lido Key home at 295 Morningside Drive, in what is commonly referred to as Lido Shores, to Audrie Sonzogni, from Long Valley, N.J., for $735,000.

The three-bedroom, three-bath residence was constructed in 1973 and has 2,776 square feet of living space. The Fingers purchased the home for $300,000 in December 1998.

Kent Chetlain is a veteran Florida journalist and historian, a former Manatee County commissioner and a holder of a Florida real-estate license. He has chronicled real-estate activity in this area since 1957.