Florida Keys home sales jump 14 percent

There were a total of 2,050 home sales in the Florida Keys in 2011, a 14 percent jump compared to 2010, according to a report from Coldwell Banker Schmitt in Marathon released last week. It was the first time since 2005 that more than 2,000 homes sold in the Keys in a single year. The average sales price in the region fell by 3 percent to $404,000, however. That number represents a 50 percent drop from the peak of $805,000 in 2006. The Upper Keys, from Lower Matecumbe to Key Largo, were the strongest submarket, with a 27 percent jump in sales last year. — Alexander Britell