Amelia Island Florida homes for sale will get a big boost this weekend when thousands of visitors come to Amelia Island for the 47th Annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival, presented by Publix. The festival will take place through Sunday in downtown Fernandina Beach.
The Merchants' Sidewalk Sale is all day Friday. The festival officially kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday when food booths, entertainment and activities open at the riverfront and Kids Fun Zone only. The opening ceremony is at 6:30 p.m. on the riverfront stage, followed by the Miss Shrimp Festival Scholarship Pageant, music and a pirate invasion, with fireworks scheduled at 9:45 p.m.
On Saturday the festival opens at 9 a.m., with music at the riverfront stage, the Family Fun Zone in the library parking lot between North 3rd and North 4th streets, and local non-profit organizations cooking up food and all things shrimp at booths along the riverfront and Centre Street. Arts, crafts and antique vendors will sell their wares along Centre Street and downtown side streets.
Saturday morning from 7-10:30 a.m. St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 801 Atlantic Ave., will serve up a breakfast buffet, eat in or take out. The 16th Annual Shrimp Festival 5K Run/Walk and the 11th Annual Katie Caples Memorial 1-Mile Youth Run starts at 8 a.m. at Main Beach and Atlantic Avenue. For information call the McArthur Family YMCA at 261-1080.
Shrimp Fest Put-Putt Doubles Tournaments will take place May 1 and 2, with shotgun start at 8 p.m. at 6 North Fletcher Ave. at Main Beach and player open practice at 7 p.m. Call to pre-register at 261-4443.
Sunday the festival runs from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m., with the annual Blessing of the Fleet, best decorated shrimp boats contest and other watercraft parade and contest starting at 1 p.m. at the riverfront at the foot of Centre Street. The Swingin' Medallions, perennial party band favorite, will play from 2:30 p.m. at the riverfront stage.
Road closures during the festival include city waterfront parking lot B until midnight Sunday. Waterfront parking lots A, C and D and the library parking lot will be closed to unauthorized vehicles until midnight Sunday. Beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, vehicles must be removed and there will be no parking on the streets and public parking lots of the downtown Centre Street business district (bordered by Ash and Alachua streets from Eighth Street to the waterfront). This area will remain closed to parking until midnight Sunday in order to finish cleanup and street sweeping. Signs will be posted throughout the downtown area and unauthorized cars will be towed.
For a complete schedule of Shrimp Festival events, food vendors and entertainment, visit www.shrimpfestival.com.
Shrimp Festival is a great time to showcase our Island. Thousands of people come for the food and fun, and like clockwork, every year people fall in love with Amelia Island and look for Amelia Island homes for sale to call their own. Have a great Shrimp Festival!
Could it be true? Are Amelia Island FL homes for sale on the verge of recovery? A new report from the University of Florida says all signs are pointing to it.
“Results of our first quarter survey indicate that the real estate market in Florida has hit bottom and is in the process of stabilizing across most property types,” Timothy Becker, director of UF’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, said in a news release.
But don’t go out and start celebrating quite yet. While most respondents to the UF survey suggest things aren’t going to get worse, few say the market has actually begun to turn around.
“One of our respondents summed it up by stating that ‘if anything, we will get less bad,’ ” Becker said.
On the upside, private capital – both foreign and domestic – is coming into Florida in search of quality investment deals, Becker said. As banks start to deal with their problem assets, more deals will come to market.
Still, the state continues to deal with record unemployment. In March, the unemployment rate hit 12.3 percent, its highest level since 1970. Florida has lost more than 880,000 jobs since 2007.
Becker notes that, even under the most optimistic assumptions, it will take three to four years for employment to return to 2006 levels.
Florida Realtors reported last week that single-family home sales rose 44 percent to 1,303 units in the Jacksonville area in March compared with 903 units sold in March 2009. The median home price fell 3 percent from $146,400 to $141,400.
Condo sales in the Jacksonville area rose 99 percent to 201 units sold in March compared with 101 units sold in March 2009, while the median price of a condo fell 34 percent from $128,100 to $84,500.
Statewide home sales increased 24 percent to 16,294 units sold, while the median price fell 3 percent to $137,000. Statewide condo sales increased 63 percent to 7,148 units, while the median price declined 11 percent.
This is great news for all Fernandina Beach Fl homes for sale!
Great price for a great view.
• 1,950 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story "Beautiful balcony view" - 
MLS® $349,500
North Hampton, Fernandina Beach - A home with an outstanding golf course and marsh view. Balcony off bonus room, surround sound inside and out. Outdoor hot and cold shower. Professionally landscaped, eat in kitchen. Two HVAC units, one upstairs and one down.
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North Hampton, Fernandina Beach - Announcing a price reduction on 85001 Wainscott Road, a 1,950 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm 2 story "Beautiful balcony view". Now MLS® $349,500 - .
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WASHINGTON (AP) – April 23, 2010 – Sales of new U.S. homes surged 27 percent last month, bouncing off the previous month's record low and blowing past expectations as better weather and government incentives boosted sales.
The Commerce Department said Friday that new home sales rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 411,000. It was the strongest month since last July and the biggest monthly increase in 47 years.
Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a sales pace of 330,000. February's results were revised upward to 324,000 but remained an all-time low. Sales had been especially weak over the winter, partly due to bad weather in much of the country.
The median sales price was $214,000, up more than 4 percent from a year earlier but down more than 3 percent from February.
The new home sales report reflects signed contracts to purchase homes rather than completed sales and thus gives economists a feel for how many buyers were out shopping for new homes in a given month.
It is likely capturing consumers who are trying to qualify for federal tax credits that will expire at the end of this month. The government is offering an $8,000 credit for first-time buyers and $6,500 for current homeowners who buy and move into another property.
To qualify, buyers must have a signed contract complete by the end of next week and must complete the transaction by the end of June. Nearly 1.8 million households have used the credit at a cost of $12.6 billion, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
The rise in new home sales was seen nationwide. Sales grew a whopping 44 percent in the South and 36 percent in the Northeast. They also rose about 6 percent in the West and 3 percent in the Midwest.
The number of new homes up for sale in March fell 2 percent to 228,000. At the current sales pace, it would take nearly 7 months to exhaust that supply.
Amelia Island Cornbread Chicken Casserole Recipe
Ingredients:
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can (4 ounces) mushroom pieces
1 red pepper, chopped
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 can (17 ounces) creamed corn
Dash cayenne pepper
Directions:
1. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces.
2. Melt butter in large skillet; add chicken and onion. Sauté until chicken is done and onion is tender.
3. Add sour cream, thyme, sage, salt, mushrooms, red pepper and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese; set aside.
4. Grease a 9x9x2 1/2-inch pan. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
5. Combine cornmeal, baking powder, salt, flour, milk, egg, corn and cayenne in a medium bowl. Stir until mixed and pour into prepared pan.
6. Top with chicken mixture; bake for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and top with remaining cheddar cheese. Continue baking for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
An Amelia Island specialty!
• single story - MLS®
Bryceville, Callahan - Must see to appreciate this wonderful decorated better than new home. High ceilings and
great lighting compliment this beautiful country home. Just minutes from Jacksonville.
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• single story - MLS®
Bryceville, Callahan - Must see to appreciate this wonderful decorated better than new home. High ceilings and
great lighting compliment this beautiful country home.
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Cartesian Pointe, Yulee - Announcing a price reduction on 76016 Long Pond Loop, a 1,585 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story. Now MLS® $114,900 - Short sale.
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By Nick D on February 25, 2010
A once in a lifetme experience
Amelia Island has many things to offer that make it one of the best places in the world to visit. For those of us who are fortunate enough to call Amelia home, we should be enjoying all that this beautiful Island has to offer. A little known treat that you should try is a horse back ride on our beautiful beach. If you have never experienced a sunrise on Amelia on a horseback, you are really missing something.
There are a couple of horse riding stables for those who like to ride and want to enjoy the thrill of a beach ride. I had the opportunity to ride a horse on the beach several years ago and I have never forgotten it.
The horses seem to really like the sandy beaches and the surf. To sit on your horse high in the saddle and watch a golden sunrise is something that you will remember for the rest of your life. I do recommend you take a camera along with you, you will want to share this with others.
Signed: Nick
Come hang out at the biggest party on the beach!
Pipeline Surf Shop in Fernandina Beach is a proud sponsor of the 1st Annual Amelia Island Sun Splash. These events are FREE to the public and will be held at the end of Sadler rd. on Fernandina Beach. Come enjoy Sun, Surf, Food, and games. Sign up on Pipeline's email list and receive event updates and information. Also visit http://www.aisunsplash.com/ for more info.
The Amelia Island concours weekend in Florida had a considerably different feel this year. After 15 years, it feels like it’s all grown up.
Not that in years past the concours weekend — centered on the Amelia Island Concours d’Elégance — was in any way a loosely run affair, but this year it felt more crowded. The quality of the cars was much higher, and the diversity was much greater. One highlight was a display of multiple Porsche 917 race cars in the classic Gulf Oil livery of light blue and orange, which seemed like a gift from Bill Warner and Tom Cotter, the directors of the concours.
The top-notch quality on the show field was also present in the auctions. The addition of the Gooding & Company sale on Friday certainly helped. It also seemed to have set off an automotive arms race among the other auction of the weekend at RM Auctions. Both RM Auctions and Gooding offered some of the best and most significant cars seen at an East Coast auction, and both companies recorded excellent sales, with RM moving more than $19 million and Gooding more than $16 million.
“We are thrilled with the results of our first Amelia Island auction,” said David Gooding, president and founder of the company. He said the auction results exceeded his expectations by $2 million to $4 million. Gooding’s high sale (and the high sale of the weekend) was the 1931 Avions Voisin at $2.5 million.
RM Auctions’s high sale came from the estate of John O’Quinn, the lawyer and megacollector from Texas who died in October in a single-car accident. His 1930 Duesenberg Model J Sport Berline sold for $1,705,000. The other O’Quinn car, a 1964 Pontiac Bonneville customized by Nudie Cohn for Hank Williams Jr., sold for $225,000. RM’s president, Ian Kelleher, remembered when the Bonneville was removed from a museum in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., after years of slumber and brought to RM’s headquarters in Chatham, Canada.
“The staff couldn’t resist taking it to lunch, top down, in December,” said Mr. Kelleher. RM will offer more significant cars from the O’Quinn estate in its Fort Lauderdale, Fla., sale this month.
Just wanted to say hi everyone.
Market Conditions Summary for Fernandina Beach, Florida
Check other local areas for more detailed information posted by real estate professionals who live and work in the area.
Agents: Click Here to Report Your Local Market Conditions
National Summary (U.S.)
After a rising surge from September through November, existing-home sales fell as expected in December after first-time buyers rushed to complete sales before the original November deadline for the tax credit. However, prices rose from December 2008 and annual sales improved in 2009, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
Existing-home sales -- including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops -- fell 16.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.45 million units in December from 6.54 million in November, but remain 15.0 percent above the 4.74 million-unit level in December 2008.
For all of 2009 there were 5,156,000 existing-home sales, which was 4.9 percent higher than the 4,913,000 transactions recorded in 2008; it was the first annual sales gain since 2005.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there were no surprises in the data. "It's significant that home sales remain above year-ago levels, but the market is going through a period of swings driven by the tax credit," he said. "We'll likely have another surge in the spring as home buyers take advantage of the extended and expanded tax credit. By early summer the overall market should benefit from more balanced inventory, and sales are on track to rise again in 2010. However, the job market remains a concern and could dampen the housing recovery -- job creation is key to a continued recovery in the second half of the year."
An NAR practitioner survey2 shows first-time buyers purchased 43 percent of homes in December, down from 51 percent in November. Repeat buyers rose to 42 percent of transactions in December from 37 percent in November; the remaining sales were to investors.
The national median existing-home price3 for all housing types was $178,300 in December, which is 1.5 percent higher than December 2008. "The median price rose because of an increased number of mid- to upper-priced homes in the sales mix," Yun said. It was the first year-over-year gain in median price since August 2007.
NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz., said market conditions are challenging in some areas. "There's a shortage of lower priced homes for sale in much of the country, resulting in multiple bids in some areas," she said.
"Raw unsold inventory has been trending down. As the market heats up again this spring, buyers may need to be prepared to move quickly on a particular home -- the best advice is to begin working with a Realtor® now to be able to use the tax credit and benefit from the increased buying power in the current market," Golder said.
Total housing inventory at the end of December fell 6.6 percent to 3.29 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.2-month supply4 at the current sales pace, up from a 6.5-month supply in November. Raw unsold inventory is 11.1 percent below a year ago, is at the lowest level since March 2006, and is 28.2 percent below the record of 4.58 million in July 2008.
Distressed homes, which accounted for 32 percent of sales last month, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes in the same area. For all of 2009, the median price was $173,500, down 12.4 percent from $198,100 in 2008; distressed homes accounted for 36 percent of total sales last year.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.93 percent in December from 4.88 percent in November; the rate was 5.29 percent in December 2008.
Single-family home sales fell 16.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.79 million in December from a pace of 5.76 million in November, but are 12.7 percent above the 4.25 million level in December 2008. For all of 2009, single-family sales rose 5.0 percent to 4,566,000.
The median existing single-family home price was $177,500 in December, which is 1.4 percent above a year ago. For all last year, the single-family median was $173,200, down 11.9 percent from 2008.
Existing condominium and co-op sales fell 15.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 660,000 in December from 780,000 in November, but are 34.7 percent higher than the 490,000-unit pace a year ago. For all of 2009, condo sales rose 4.8 percent to 590,000 units.
The median existing condo price5 was $183,700 in December, up 1.0 percent from December 2008. For all of last year, the median condo price was $176,100, which is 16.1 percent below 2008.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast dropped 19.5 percent to an annual level of 910,000 in December but are 21.3 percent above a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $241,700, up 3.2 percent from December 2008.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest fell 25.8 percent in December to a level of 1.15 million but are 8.5 percent higher than December 2008. The median price in the Midwest was $143,200, which is 1.8 percent above a year ago.
In the South, existing-home sales dropped 16.3 percent to an annual pace of 2.01 million in December but are 15.5 percent above December 2008. The median price in the South was $152,000, down 1.0 percent from a year ago.
Existing-home sales in the West declined 4.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.38 million in December but are 15.0 percent higher than a year ago. The median price in the West was $236,000, up 2.7 percent from December 2008.
What to Expect on Taxes
Upon the sale of a property, the County Tax Assessor will probably go through the Re-Assessment process. At least, they certainly have the right.
The process will be something like:
A physical inspection will take place and an Appraised Value will be placed on the property. This is NORMALLY less than Sale Value, but who can say for sure. I certainly am not saying it WILL . Next, an Assessed Value is then assigned. This is the value that taxes are computed from. Assessed Value is normally less than Appraised Value. I hate to put a percentage, but maybe something like 85% (to begin with. I will explain later). Don’t take that figure to the bank!!!!. In Florida there is a provision in the Tax Code named. “Homestead Exemption” This is a reduction in appraised value of $50,000.00 (Accessed) if the property is your homestead and you lived in the residence on January 1st of the tax year. There are other exemptions but I will not attempt to explain in this report. Once you have established the assessed value and deducted the homestead exemption, a good RULE OF THUMB is 17 mils. (Not intended to be exact, only a guideline). Your assessed value, less homestead exemption, times 17 mils (or simply 17) will come close to your first year taxes.
Remember, Florida has NO INCOMETAX.
This report is relevant to Amelia Island Real Estate and Fernandina Beach homes for sale
This report is not intended to be a legal interpretation of taxes but only a brief guideline. Consult your Advisor
• 1,684 sq. ft., 2 bath, 3 bdrm single story "stucco over frame" - 
MLS® $214,900 - Reduced
Meadowfield, Yulee
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