Five of 10 Key sales surpass $1 million

“Ah, there’s good news tonight,” to quote the ever optimistic radio commentator Gabriel Heatter during those dark days following the attack on Pearl Harbor that catapulted the United States into World War II.

Not only are there encouraging signs in the area, state and nation but also right here on the keys, because sales recordings for the week of April 27 through May 1 rose from six the week before to 10. The million-dollar sales more than doubled, rising from two to five.

Half of LBK sales top $1 million
Longboat Key led the way, accounting for seven of the 10 sales and four of the five $1 million conveyances. Meanwhile, pending sales in Sarasota County rose to 817 in March, the most since March 2006 and 21% higher than March 2008. While not all these pending sales will be consummated, the vast majority will be.
Another encouraging sign is the mounting increase in sales recordings at both the Sarasota and Manatee County courthouses in Sarasota and Bradenton. This winter, Sarasota County has averaged 350 to 375 sales recordings a week. This grew to 485 for the week of April 27 through May 1, while deed recordings in Manatee County climbed from an average of 300 per week to 661 recorded the last week in April. Thus, the combined two-county total for April 27 through May 1 was 1,146 deed recordings.
Admittedly, many of the recordings are only incidental to these sales, such as quit claim deeds and, in some cases, separate recordings for the same sale among family members. However, the overall volume of these deed recordings is yet another indication of the rising number of local property transactions in recent weeks.

Water Club
The week’s largest transaction was the $3 million that Nelcy and Jeffery Valcourt, of McLean, Va., paid for Unit 901 in the 11-story, 86-unit Water Club II tower at 1281 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Sellers Carol and Edward Goldberg, of Livingston, N.J., bought the condominium new for $1,862,600 in October 1999.
The 3,460-square-foot condominium has three bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths.

Country Club Shores
The week’s second-largest transaction was in the fifth unit of the 420-lot Country Club Shores, in which Marijane and Earl Shelton, 231 Robin Drive, Bird Key, sold their home at 571 Birdie Lane to Sharon and Charles Ford, from Boerne, Texas, for $1,225,000.
The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath home was built in 1967 and has 2,571 square feet of air-conditioned living area. The Sheltons purchased the waterfront home for $1,608,000 in May 2006.
 

Marina Bay
Susan and Michael Chommie, of Sapphire, N.C., sold their Unit 222 in Building 2 at the 60-unit Marina Bay condominium to Christine and Angelo Furgiuele, 2450 Harbourside Drive, for $1,115,000. The three-bedroom, three-bath apartment was constructed in 1990 and has 2,830 square feet of living space.
In the second sale at Marina Bay, Gail and Conrad Weiser, also of 2450 Harbourside Drive, bought Unit 214 in Building 2 from Loring and Howard Byers, of Memphis, Tenn., for $1.1 million. The three-bedroom, three-bath condo was built in 1990 and has 3,083 square feet of living area. The Byerses bought the condo for $1,191,000 in March 2006.

Bay Isles II
Teresa and Frederick Derr, of Sarasota, sold their Longboat Key home in the second unit of Bay Isles at 3221 Bayou Way for $655,000 to Michael Ryan, of Henley, England. The three-bedroom, two-bath home was constructed in 1981 and has 2,639 square feet of living area. The Derrs bought the home for $430,000 in June 1989.

Bay Harbour Apartments
Amy and John Ryder, from Van Wert, Ohio, paid $320,000 to Stacey and Lonnie Braxton, of Macon, Ga., for their Unit 104 in Building A of the 39-unit Bay Harbour Apartments, 448 Gulf of Mexico Drive. The two-bedroom, two-bath condo was constructed in 1970 and has 1,194 square feet of living space. The Braxtons paid $320,000 for the condo in February 2002.

Beach Harbor Club
Andrew Tirpok Jr., of Flemington, N.J., sold his interest in Unit B-305 at the 133-unit Beach Harbor Club through a quit claim deed to Emily Jung, of Oldwick, N.J., for $65,000. The two-bedroom, two-bath apartment at 3804 Gulf of Mexico Drive was constructed in 1970 and has 1,007 square feet of air-conditioned living area.
Last October, Tirpok and Jung jointly bought the condominium from the estate of Margaret Ryan through her personal representative, Cecilia Ryan, for $260,000.

Lido Beach
Susan and James Davis, from Mequon, Wis., bought a 54-year-old Lido Beach home at 435 McKinley Drive from Sue and Steven Greenberg, of Sarasota, for $1.05 million. The 2,712-square-foot home has three bedrooms and three baths with a swimming pool. The Greenbergs bought the home for $1.5 million in April 2004.

Lido Shores
W. Howard Rooks, prominent local and former Washington, D.C., Realtor, now a managing partner of CPR Ventures LLC, sold a vacant one-third-acre lot at 1235 Center Place in Lido Shores for $600,000 to Janet Minker and her husband, Elliott Himelfarb, of Sarasota. CPR Ventures purchased the lot for $925,000 in July 2005.

Lido Harbour South
Sharon and Charles Nickless, from Frankenmuth, Mich., paid $385,000 for apartment 104 in Seaview House at the 69-unit Lido Harbour South. The seller was Carolyn Kuhnle, of Houston, as both an individual and as successor trustee for the Forrest Grade revocable trust.
The late pioneer condominium developer I.Z. Mann built the two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 2110 Ben Franklin Drive in 1968. It has 1,248 square feet of living area.

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.