Florida real estate demand is heating up and we know it is coming from a few sources.  One obviously is low interest rates.  Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of these historic low rates if they could?  The other is heavy demand from northern buyers relocating to escape high state taxes.

A recent report showed out of state buyers moving into Florida at a rate of 950 per day.  Florida has 67 counties.  You have to figure Lee County is one of the 10 largest counties by population.  It’s safe to assume Lee County is getting its fair share of those relocating from high tax states.

Let’s assume the top 10 counties are pulling half of the 950 daily relocations.  One tenth of 425 is 42.5.  Let’s cut that in half again and round that to 22.  If 22 people per day are moving to Lee County that equates to about 660 people per month.  Assuming an average family size of 3, 220 housing units would be needed per month in Lee County.

Florida Real Estate Demand Affects Housing Inventory

We have been witnessing our housing supply shrink each month as more contracts come in than new listings entering the market each month.  Lee County is down to a 2.36-month supply of homes which is the lowest I can remember in over 30 years practicing real estate in Lee County.

Moving companies are reporting they have no more trucks available to move people out of New York City.  People cannot move out of there fast enough.  In Manhattan apartment vacancies are up 122% over last year.  Manhattan is not alone.  In fact, at Keller Williams we have intelligence that shows us where buyers are relocating from to our area.  I pulled up Naples in the system as an example to illustrate how this works.

Bonita Springs has different data from Naples which illustrates the point that each area attracts buyers from different areas.  The Ellis Team takes this data and advertises our listings in those markets.  What we find is a high level of lead conversion from those markets.  People up north are genuinely interested in leaving their state for Florida.

Everyone has their own reasons, and we hear them all.  Their reasons matter to them, and the first part of obtaining the lead is listening to the data.  When a seller hires us to sell their home, basically they are saying, “I don’t care where you find the buyer, just go out and get me some”.  Some Realtors aggressively market while other just place it on the MLS and pray someone else has a buyer.  The Ellis Team likes to go out and find the buyer.

Marketing Drives Sales

The best place to find the buyer is advertising where the buyers are.  We know many buyers are local, so we advertise heavily locally.  We also know many buyers are coming from out of state, so we advertise our listings in those cities where buyers are coming from. Florida real estate demand has never been higher.

I looked up the other day and we had 22 pending sales.  I wondered why we did not have 32 or 42 pending sales, and it dawned on me.  If we had more listings, we would have had 32 or 42 pending sales.  Our marketing is aggressive, and it is working.  The only thing it is lacking is inventory.  We can pare down this marketing at any time, but that would not be as fun.  We enjoy putting smiles on our seller faces when we bring them offers for top dollar.

If you have been thinking about selling your home, now might be the time.  You can call Brett or Sande Ellis at 239-489-4042 Ext 4 and we will be happy to sit down and evaluate your options. Or you can visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com to get an instant valuation of your property.

Do not let the best market we have ever seen pass you by.  Nobody knows how long this will last.  The Ellis Team is just a phone call away.  Good luck and Happy Selling!

See last week’s article “Seller’s Market Fuels Rise in Home Sale Prices”