Anna Maria Island is a barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Florida. The Island is on the West Coast of Manatee County and contains three cities; Anna Maria City, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach. The island is approximately 7 miles long with a little more than 8000 properties. The 8000 properties are a mixture of condominiums, duplexes, vacant land and single family homes. The northern part of Anna Maria Island sits in Tampa Bay and offers fantastic views of the Bay. Sarasota City is to the South of Anna Maria Island and Tampa is to the North.
In 1892 George Emerson Bean became the first permanent resident of Anna Maria Island. In 1922 the island became easier to access after a bridge was constructed in Bradenton Beach, now known as Bridge Street. Today there are three drawbridges that vehicles can travel to gain access to the island. The most Southern bridge connects Longboat Key, the next to the North provides access from Cortez and finally the last bridge provides access via Northwest Bradenton or State Route 64. The three closest airports are Sarasota Bradenton International airport, St Petersburgh Clearwater International airport and the Tampa International airport.
Today Anna Maria Island is a popular vacation destination for its low key, relaxing, beach atmosphere. A significant news event for Anna Maria Island occurred December 2008 when USA Today wrote a full page travel article that captured the authentic nature of the island. Since the USA Today article, publishers like Coastal Living, Southern Living and many others have featured Anna Maria Island several times per year.{LINK – http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-12-11-anna-maria-island_N.htm the article to USA today please}
For visitors and permanent residents the island boasts more than 20 restaurants with countless gift shops and plenty for visitors to do both on and off Anna Maria Island. The island is a family oriented destination and most retail establishments close down by 10 PM. The popularity gained from published articles on Anna Maria Island as well as the authenticity of the island has helped create a strong demand for real estate. For almost twenty years Anna Maria Island real estate has appreciated 5-10% per year. Condominiums, vacant land and duplexes lag single family appreciation at approximately 5% appreciation per year with single family homes topping out at 10% annual appreciation. On average, Anna Maria Island has 350 properties for sale and usually about 50% of those are single family homes, 30% are condominiums, 10% are duplexes and 10% is vacant land. Since Anna Maria Island is a coastal community approximately 75% of the residents are transient in nature with about 25% staying all year round. More specifically the 2013 census provides a little more than 2000 properties on Anna Maria Island that are homesteaded. The island has approximately 3,000 rentals of which the vast majority are seasonal monthly or weekly vacation rentals. The absorption rates of Anna Maria Island real estate for sale has ranged between 40 months of inventory down to 6 months of inventory and would characterize the average real estate inventory on hand to be 10-12 months.
For those buyers looking to settle down on the island all the amenities of a small city are available on Anna Maria Island. The island boasts several gas stations, a large grocery store as well as a Dollar store. What is better than to jump in your golf cart and make a run to the grocery store to pick up that missing ingredient you need for dinner. What a life! Furthermore, settling down on Anna Maria Island continues to provide an excellent investment given the 5-10% real estate appreciation per year for the last 20 years. While a permanent or second home residence may not be considered as an investment it is hard to ignore when reviewing Anna Maria Island real estate. In addition, Anna Maria Island Real Estate offers a fantastic investment opportunity for those willing to take the leap into renting their property to inbound visitors while not using the property. There are more than a dozen property management companies located on Anna Maria Island that specialize on managing inbound visitors along with maintenance, cleaning and the miscellaneous challenges faced when renting a property from afar. Anna Maria Island Vacation rentals provided significant relief from the subprime mortgage crisis in 2007-2010 because property owners were able to utilize the strong inbound visitor demand to offset debt service issues. It is important to note, Anna Maria Island did observe foreclosures on properties, it was a significantly lower rate than the mainland as well as other areas of the United States.
Anna Maria Island real estate ownership can be complicated due to city lines, coastal construction lines, easements and the list of challenges can be long and significant. It is always suggested to use a professional full time real estate professional that specializes on Anna Maria Island to help navigate the waters of purchasing real estate on Anna Maria Island. Be sure to visit our information pages{link blog about how to pick a full time local sales professional}that provide assistance ensuring you find a full time real estate professional that focuses on Anna Maria Island. Weekend warriors located in Tampa or Sarasota can be extremely dangerous especially when considering seasonal rental rules which are City dependent on Anna Maria Island. Happy hunting and please be sure to drop a line if you would like assistance making sure you find an Anna Maria Island real estate sales professional to find your perfect Anna Maria Island property for sale.
