Elizabeth Taylor was given La Peregrina Pearl, which was found in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama.  Christies will be auctioning off her collection this week in New York.

EWM is Christies exclusive affiliate in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.  EWM is the listing agent of second largest island in the Pearl Islands, San Jose Island.

Related blogs:

Elizabeth Taylor Collection Auction Taking Place This Month

San Jose Island, Panama:  How Big Is 11,000 Acres?

San Jose Island, Pearl Islands, Panama

Over 57 beaches on the island

Ponce/Davis Lot Under Construction

Preparing For Construction On Ponce De Leon

San Jose Island, Panama For Sale

Okay, I have already posted that it is twice the size of Key West, but maybe that is still hard to put into perspective.  So, I will compare it in size to other famous islands.   Using AskNumbers.com conversion table, I came up with the following:

Cayman Brac: 14 square miles =8,960 acres

Little Cayman: 10 square miles = 6,400 acres

St. Barts:  10 square miles = 6,400 acres

Virgin Gorda: 8 square miles = 5,120 acres

Basically, 11,000 acres is big enough for you to build your own town, or two! 

Some of the issues that arise with developing these islands, such as importing electricity, cell phone towers, water purifiers,  the building materials and even, in some cases, the palm trees, can make development extremely costly. 

San Jose Island, in the Pearl Islands off the coast of Panama, does not have a lot of these issues.  Granted, at 11,000 acres, approximately twice the size of Key West,  it is a much larger island than the ones in Exuma.  It has its own rivers and streams, providing fresh water, as well as a water treatment facility capable of producing 3,000 gallons of water an hour, and a 10,000 gallon storage tank.  It has a 5000 linear foot landing strip, lots of trees, including palm trees, mooring facilities, and a boutique resort, Hacienda del Mar.

A short 20 minute flight to Panama City, Panama, means you are  in close proximity to world class entertainment and medical facilities, including John Hopkins at Punta Pacifica Hospital.

Compared to the most expensive island for sale in the Bahamas, Cave Cay, at $440,000 per acre, San Jose Island , at $22,545 per acre, seems like a downright bargain.  Oh, I almost forgot…Panama doesn’t have hurricanes!

One of 57 Beaches on San Jose Island

• 8 in Coral Gables.  Priced from $349,900 to $13,475,000
• 7 in Pinecrest.  Priced from $585,000 to $2,099,999
• 5 in Coconut Grove.  Priced from $450,000 to $1,300,000
• 3 in Miami Beach.  Priced from $399,900 – $8,650,000

• Closed sales: 90.  Low of $270,000, high of $4,000,000. 7 were bankowned (REO), 10 are short sales or approximately 19% distressed sales.  57 closed in the second quarter.
• Pending sales: 48.  Low of  $265,000, high of $2,150,000. 3 are REO, 17 are short sales.  Almost 42% are distressed sales.
• Active sales:  160.  Low of $269,900, high of $5,000,000 ($4,999,999 to be exact!).  3 are REOs. 14 are short sales.  Only 11% distressed listings.  64 were listed in the second quarter.

What does this mean if you are a seller?  If you want to sell your home during the end of the summer buying season, drop your price now.  Homes are selling and people are still looking to buy in Pinecrest because of the quality of the public and private schools, parks, and good size lots.  If your home needs a lot of work, you are going to have to drop the price even further.  Buyers are looking for homes that need minimal updates.  If you don’t drop your price now, you are going to have to drop it even further come the beginning of the school year.

If you are a buyer, the numbers mean there aren’t as many “deals” in terms of short sales and foreclosures.  Those that are on the market, are priced well, and in reasonably good shape are going to have multiple offers, because there are fewer of them.  If you are financing your purchase, you are better off using the numbers to make an offer on a well priced, non-distressed listing.

Closed sales:  94. Low of $190,000 to a high of $25,500,000.  9 of the closed sales were foreclosures, 6 were short sales.   Only 16% were distressed sales. 49 closed in the second quarter.

• Pending sales: 57.  Low $200,000 to a high of $14,900,00. 2 of the pending sales are foreclosures, 23 are short sales.  Almost 44% distressed.  21 went pending in the second quarter.
• Active sales: 282.  Low of $205,900,high of $49,995,000.  16 are short sales, 1 is a foreclosure. Only 6% distressed.  76 of the active sales were listed in the second quarter.

What does this mean if you are a seller?  The good news is that the majority of the closed sales are not distressed sales.  If you are priced right for a buyer’s market, you have a closing window of opportunity to sell at a higher price than you will get later this year.  I think prices of active listings are going to come down as we come closer to the end of the summer buying season.

What does this mean if you are a buyer?  Many buyers are still looking for a “deal” without realizing that they are already looking at one.  Just because a property is not a foreclosure or a short sale, does not mean it is not a good deal.  A lot of sellers have come down significantly in their pricing, in large part due to the pressure of distressed properties on the market.  As the distressed properties listed for sale decrease, they become less of a factor on the overall market.  If you are financing your property and only looking at distressed sales, you are going to have even more frustration as you are competing with cash buyers.

Note:  These numbers are going to change a bit due to fluctuations at the end of the month when a lot of properties status changes, but those changes don’t get recorded in the MLS until the following month.

As we circled over the island and came down the 5,000 linear feet landing strip, I had the insane notion that Tatoo was standing on the island somewhere saying “De plane, de plane!”. We were picked up and driven through beautiful jungle canopy to the boutique resort, Hacienda del Mar

I spent four days there and can’t wait to go back! It is currently for sale and would make a spectacular world-class resort destination.