Cape Coral Archives - Page 28 of 62 - Fort Myers Real Estate and Homes For Sale

News that Lee County housing inventory supply rises heading into 2019 season won’t surprise many Realtors, but it may shock some sellers. Reading headlines in 2018 would leave many sellers to believe the Lee County housing market is up and doing well.

Lee County Housing Inventory Supply Rises Heading Into 2019 Season

Let’s dive in and look at some numbers. Inventory is up in every single price category since October. We saw a 17.24% rise in listing inventory and only a .77% rise in sold homes since October numbers were released. Since these are 365 days numbers, the buildup in inventory has essentially occurred since October. We have 883 more homes on the market now than we did 2 months ago. The market has not absorbed the extra inventory, which has put pressure on home prices.

Prices have been stagnant for 2 years. In fact, home prices in October were less than January 2017 numbers. Official November numbers won’t be released until after this article was written, however we fail to see how rising inventory will help home prices rise when they weren’t rising with low inventory numbers.

In the last 6 months we’ve met with many potential sellers. They just didn’t like the numbers they were seeing and wanted to wait until season when they thought they could fetch a higher price. Some even listed with other Realtors who listed at a higher price, and they’re still on the market. We always tell sellers, if you list with another Realtor for a higher price and it doesn’t sell, give us a call when it expires, and we’ll be glad to look at it again. The issue is for some sellers, their price has gone down. By listing it too high in a stagnant or declining market only adds to the pain later on. It’s much better to price it correctly the first time.

Going Forward

Sellers looking to sell in 2019 need to do a better job in 3 areas:

Interviewing Agents. Ask pointed questions. It’s OK. How many homes did you sell in 2018? What is your company market share? How much commission will you pay out to other brokers in MLS to also show my home? If the agent cuts their commission upfront, it not only tells you how well they’ll negotiate your sales price, it also tells you how motivated other agents will be to show your home. How long have you been selling real estate? What’s your experience in a shifting market?

Select the best marketing plan. Will your home be marketed in print and online? We’re not talking about putting it on Zillow and Realtor.com. Everybody does that. How will your home be targeted to specific buyers throughout the US and Internationally? Ask them to show you. It will become apparent quickly if they know how to do this, and if they do it. If you’re unsure, ask Brett or Sande to come in and show you. There’s a reason why our listings sell when others don’t. 2019 will not be the market to select an agent that doesn’t understand how to go find the buyer online.

Correctly Price. It won’t matter how much your agent spends on advertising if it’s overpriced. Advertising exposes your home to the market. We think we expose your home to more and better buyers than anybody else. That’s a moot point however if your home is overpriced. Working with an experienced agent is critical in selecting the best price for your home. You may not like what the market is telling you but ask yourself this question. If I don’t like what the market is saying today, how will I feel in 6 months or a year when it failed to sell and you’re competing with more inventory then?

Reality Sets In

Sometimes reality today is worth more than reality down the road. It’s all when you choose to see it. It’s right there in front of us. The Ellis Team has a plan to get your home sold quickly, and for Top Dollar!

Give us Sande or Brett a call 239-489-4042 Ext 4, or feel free to search at www.LeeCountyOnline.com

Happy Holidays!

While home prices may be lackluster, 2018 local home sales are still at a near record pace. With YTD data compiled through October we see 2018 better than both 2017 and 2016 numbers, and only slightly behind 2015 numbers. November was a strong month, so when official numbers are released later in December, we believe we may even close the gap a bit heading into finishing out the year.

2018 Local Home Sales Still at Recent Record Pace

We hear so many agents talk about a shift in the market. We can’t rule out what may happen in the future. All we can do is discuss what is happening now. Right now, we haven’t seen a shift in pricing or sales numbers. There may be another kind of shift we’ll discuss later.

Home prices have been flat since January 2017. Today’s prices are roughly what they were 2 years ago, and they really haven’t changed much over the last two years. While the rest of Florida and the country have appreciated, Lee County has not. We don’t see a significant bubble ahead because of this fact, and because this market is different than the last bubble. We have end users for homes. In 2006 we didn’t.

Pressure

We have pressure in the market. Interest rates have risen which has lessened affordability for buyers. The pressure is simply market forces exerting itself on the market. Pressure will influence direction, and not necessarily change it. In other words, pressure can limit growth without causing negative pricing. If you add enough pressure, it can. Pressure can come from a variety of sources. Interest rates, wages, economic growth, unemployment, tourism, politics, taxes, supply, demand, and many more. When you throw them all in the crock pot, its fun to see which ones win out. We can predict, but forces are always changing in intensity and scope.

Other Shift

Sometimes in business the numbers don’t change, but the way business is conducted does. When Amazon entered the market, physical retailers may have sold less, while online sold more. Overall sales could have been more or less, but it was certainly less for the physical retailers. The same can be true in real estate. We could have the same number of transactions, but agents accustomed to doing a certain amount may feel like the market has shifted because their numbers are down, when it really hasn’t.

Real estate is changing. Sellers aren’t always reaching out to agents who have a track record of selling homes for more money, and faster. Sellers are selecting agents by who called them on phone, who they saw online, or at an open house they attended. It’s harder and harder for consumers to know which the really good agents are. Some of the really good agents are scratching their heads and wondering where the business is going and wondering why consumers aren’t contacting them as much.

Advertising that used to work 10 years ago may be less effective today. The point I’m making is agents can’t judge the health of the market by how their own sales are going. Just because an agent’s sales are up 20% or down 20% doesn’t mean the market is. The Ellis Team is up big time in 2018, and yet we realize two things. We must keep adapting or we’ll get run over, and we have to keep our eye on the local market and look for changes.

Agents Must Keep Up With Technology

Change is inevitable. It’s like raising a child. Perhaps you’ve done a great job and your kids are great at 12. They’re not fully done yet, and you must keep it up for many more years. Things can change quickly if you don’t stay on top of it. The market may be balanced today, and move in a year or two. Forces change, and so will the market.

Always call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty Fort Myers & the Islands with your real estate questions. If you’re thinking of selling, ask for Sande or Brett 239-489-4042 Ext 4 Or visit www.LeeCountyOnline.com to sell all the homes in MLS and find your piece of paradise.

Ellis Team Weekend Open House

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

Everyone seems to ask how the market is doing. Usually the answer depends on where you live, price range, and several factors. It’s not always as cut and dried because within the overall market we have several sub-markets that fluctuate independently of each other. Here are Southwest Florida October Housing Statistics by City.

We decided to release some numbers we look at each month. One of these metrics is the breakdown by city. Before we discuss the numbers, we must first be careful not to read too much into one-month data. If a city has a low number of sales each month, the data can fluctuate wildly any given month. Secondly, in 2017 we were impacted by Hurricane Irma. In some cases, it hurt sales last year, and in others it increased sales last October because they were delayed from September.

Southwest Florida October Housing Statistics by City

Since all that is out of the way, here we go. Bonita Springs led the way with a 43.9% increase in closed sales, but again, it’s a small data set. Sanibel/Captiva slowed the most followed by Estero, again with small data sets.

Moving over to price changes, Sanibel/Captiva led the way with a 59.7% increase in median price. This might explain why fewer sales, although we think it has more to do with the mix that sold that month. Bonita Springs, Fort Myers Beach, and Pine Island saw price decreases while the rest of Lee County saw mild to moderate increases. Fort Myers and Cape Coral did particularly well given that each has a large data set, and both scored gains in closed sales and pricing. Lehigh Acres and North Fort Myers were the only two areas besides Fort Myers and Cape Coral to record gains in pricing and sales activity.

A lot of people made a big deal about water quality and how it affected home sales. By the numbers, it didn’t seem to harm Fort Myers, Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, or Lehigh Acres. Did it hurt Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel/Captiva, Pine Island or Bonita Springs? Possibly, but the numbers are mixed, and again it’s only one-month data.

Search Homes by City

We have a section on our website www.LeeCountyOnline.com where you can search for homes by city, neighborhood, or even get neighborhood market reports. We have several neighborhoods setup and saved, and you can create your own as well if you don’t see your neighborhood listed.

The neighborhood market reports are nice because they show you active listings, pending sales, and sold listings along with data and photos of each. You can signup to have these reports emailed to you monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly. These are different than neighborhood saved searches in that they contain much more data. Saved neighborhood searches can be emailed to you daily. Market reports can only be emailed weekly or greater because of all the extra detail.

We provide more data than any other website we know of, and yet there is no substitute for speaking with us if you’re considering making a move. The data we provide is Free to use. We hope it helps you in making the best decision for your family. Sometimes it’s the experience, wisdom, and marketing behind the data that matters.

These homes don’t sell themselves. Even when people think a home sells itself, there was still marketing involved to expose the buyer, negotiating the contract, inspections, etc. A lot goes into making a transaction come together. Most people don’t realize only 4% of prospective buyers can buy. They need help, perhaps selling another property, getting financed, etc. This is where agents come in, and experience matters.

If you’re looking to purchase, sell, or both, you should call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty. 239-489-4042. We don’t sell anything. We listen, educate, and help you achieve your goals.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday Dec 8th 1-3 PM

2008 Bolado Pkwy Cape Coral, FL 33990

Open House Sunday December 9 12-3 PM

908 SE 21st PL Cape Coral, FL 33990

There is much debate about the local SW Florida real estate market and whether it is shifting. Experts speculate that it might because of everything from rising interest rates, rising prices, housing declines up North, to climate change. This makes selecting correct listing agent critical when market shifts even more important, which we’ll discuss later on.

One of the factors some experts look at when evaluating the market is housing inventory. New listing inventory numbers were just released, and we noticed a few things. First off, new listings increased 11% in October over 2017 new listings. Secondly, current listing inventory stands at 5,823 which is 17.9% increase over last year. So, what is causing this inventory buildup, and what can we do about it?

Inventory buildup is caused by several things including rising rates, decreasing home affordability, and false expectations. Sellers read that home prices are up 2.9% over last year, so they add 2.9% to the figure they thought their home was worth last year, and voila, they have a number. Different homes appreciate at varying rates, just like certain neighborhoods appreciate at different rates than others due to location, age, the finances of the association, amenities, etc.

Most sellers believe we have a runaway market while many buyers are fearful that prices are too high and should come down. The truth is both could be right, and both could be wrong, depending on the price range, neighborhood, and other factors.

Selecting Correct Listing Agent Critical When Market Shifts

In a shifting market, two things sell homes. Marketing and Price. Sometimes a correctly priced home won’t sell or won’t sell for full value if it isn’t marketed well. However, history is littered with examples of overpriced merchandise that won’t sell no matter how well it’s marketed. Marketing and pricing go hand in hand.

Other factors influence showings, like pet smells, kitchen and bath updates, the general condition of the property, etc. It all comes down to price though. What you have in it doesn’t necessarily affect value. For instance, I was in GA at a real estate conference and they drove me by Evander Holyfield’s home. I think they said it was a $30 million home to build, and it was in an area of acreage and homes worth a few hundred thousand dollars. If Evander would have sold that home back then, there is no way he’d get $30 million, even though he may have had that much in it. Who would buy it?

While that’s an extreme example, the same principal holds true. Cost does not equal value. If you want to sell, we must determine what the market is willing to pay. It doesn’t matter how much you have in the home, how much you need to buy your next home, or how much you owe. It’s just worth what’s it worth at this point in time.

Some sellers decide to wait until it goes up in value. That’s fine if they realize it could go down in value too. And, while they’re waiting for their property to go up in value, the thing they were going to buy with their proceeds might go up in value too. What if it goes up faster than the home their waiting to sell? They lose money by waiting.

We’re not here to talk sellers into anything or convince people to sell. We do offer common sense solutions, and present ideas for them to keep in mind so they can make the best decision for their finances. Buying and selling can be emotional, so they tend to have knee-jerk reactions. Once buyers or sellers get an idea in their head, it’s hard to come off that. That’s where a seasoned professional with years of experience comes in.

It’s one thing to know the market, and it’s another to know how to deliver information to buyers and sellers in a format they can digest to make good decisions for their family. If you’re thinking of buying or selling, call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042 and we’ll help you with your questions, or go to www.SWFLhomevlaues.com to find out your home’s value for Free online.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Sunday 12-3 PM

7152 Reymoor Dr

We get this question a lot? Is it better to list SW Florida home in December or January? The perception is there are more buyers here in season, so why not wait until season when more buyers are here, and the home will be fresher to the market.

The advice we’re about to give might fly in the face of reason, however it is steeped in experience and logic. Yes, more visitors arrive in SW Florida in the seasonal months of January through April. If you look at the closed sales chart, you’ll notice we typically have far more closings in December than we do in January.

Many buyers wish to get their sale in by year end for tax and homestead purposes. It’s not uncommon for us to have a big sales month in December, probably for these reasons.

If we recognize that December can be a good month for sales, we must also recognize what happens each January and February. The listings shoot through the roof. January and February show the largest increase in listing inventory each year. It will happen again this upcoming season.

As a seller, if you’re contemplating selling in the next few months, you are absolutely better off listing now. Buyers are out there. Our team has been busy showing properties to multiple buyers, and we have several offers in the works.

We tell sellers there may not be as many showings in December, but they showings that do occur tend to be from serious home buyers. If the middle of November is any indication, showings this December might increase over previous years.

If sales activity is higher in December than January, and if there is far more listing competition in January, why would you wait to put your home on the market? Statistically you’re better off putting it on the market now.

The answer is, sellers believe the holidays are a bad time to sell a home. And the reality is, many agents believe it to, so they take the month of December off. When they take the month off, it further confirms to them that nobody buys in December because they had no sales.

The same can be said for agents who take the summers off. They believe there are no sales in the summer, and their belief becomes their reality. As you can tell from the chart, summertime closings are some of the best months each year. Why would you take those months off?

But then again, why would you hire a part-time Realtor? To me, a part-time Realtor isn’t just an agent who has a primary job somewhere else and works real estate on the side. A part-time Realtor can also be an agent that takes months off. When you do that, you basically shut your business down. It’s one thing to take a vacation. Everybody needs them. For heaven’s sake, if you’re going to take a vacation, get another agent to cover for you. How would you like to be a seller and find out your agent took the month off?

That’s why having a team makes a lot of sense. If any team member takes a vacation, the rest of the team picks up the slack. The Ellis Team works 365 days per year, and yet not every agent on the team has to. We want each of our team members to take some time off and come back refreshed. It’s all part of offering 1^st class service.

If you’re considering selling in the next 5 months, you should call Sande or Brett Ellis and discuss your options. We’re not saying putting your house on the market today is the best for everybody. We’re just saying be careful about listening to false assumptions. If you’d like to talk, we’re here to help. 239-489-4042 Ext 4. Or find out your home’s value online for free at www.SWFLhomevalues.com

Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday 1-3 PM

13 High Point Cir N Unit 302, Naples FL 34103

Each year the Ellis Team studies a publication put out by the National Association of Realtors research department. This year we’re studying the 2018 National Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers. We do this for several reasons.

We’re able to gain insight on how best to serve the buyers we work with. We want to know what issues are most important to them, and what issues might be affecting them. When we identify and isolate these issues, often we can come up with solutions for them.

By understanding buyers needs better, this also helps us with sellers as what affects the buyer usually comes back around and affects the seller. Better understanding buyers helps our seller clients tremendously. The most educated and skilled agents tend to come up with the best solutions, and when this happens everybody wins.

Secondly, we want to understand home sellers better too. Sellers have needs that need to be addressed. We want to pay attention to changes. Even though our team has loads of experience, we can’t let that blind us to the possibility things are changing in real-time.

So, what did we learn this year? Gross household income increased to $91,600, up from $88,800 the previous year. The median age of a home buyer is now 46, up from 42 back in 2013 and 45 last year. 63% were married couples, 18% were single females, 9% single males, and 8% unmarried couples. Children in the home decreased to 34% and has been on a steady decline from 40% since 2013.

2018 National Profile of Home Buyer and Sellers

Drilling deeper into the reason buyers were rejected for a mortgage we found that 33% were rejected due to their debts being too high relative to their income. 27% had a credit score that prevented them from buying, while 14% had income that was difficult to verify.

Buyers of new homes had a median income of $111,770 while buyers of existing homes had a median income of $89,100. Did you know that 15% of buyers chose their neighborhood because of their pet? We can’t tell you how many buyers won’t buy a property due to neighborhood restrictions on pets. It’s often the first question we get regarding condo or HOA documents.

Student loan debt typically delayed a home purchase for 2 years, and the typical student loan debt was $28,000. 3% of buyers are active in the armed forces, while 18% of all buyers were veterans.

The Internet played a large role in the purchase of real estate. 83% frequently used the Internet to search, and 90% used an agent. 88% found the detailed property information useful while 90% found the photos useful.

Single females outpaced single males 2 to 1 in purchases. Convenience to friends and family was important to single females while convenience to job was important for single males.

54% of unmarried couples rented together before purchasing. First time home buyers expect to be in their 1^st home for 10 years. Repeat buyers expect to be in their next home 15 years.

The stats go on and on. We like to look at data to see if there are trends we need to pay attention to. For instance, we notice a rising age in the typical home buyer. Is this because younger people are delaying their first home purchase, or having trouble saving for the down payment or qualifying for the mortgage. Once we identify the issue, we may be able to identify a solution. We do have some down payment assistance programs available. It’s all about knowing where to look, if you ask the right questions.

Only 4% of buyers can purchase a home without help. The rest either need help getting a mortgage or have something to sell first. This is where a good Realtor comes in. We listen, we identify, and we help. Call us at 239-489-4042 and see how we can help you, or search the MLS for Free at www.LeeCountyOnline.com If you have questions about selling a home, ask for Brett or Sande Ellis Ext 4.

Find out what your Home is Worth for Free

Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Featured Property of the Week

7152 Reymoor Dr

Agents around the office often ask us how the Ellis Team sells so much real estate each month. The answer is, it’s marketing. It’s not about the dollars you spend each month, although we do spend more on advertising than just about anybody out there. It’s about spending smart, understanding how and where to find your customers, and converting. The Ellis Team smashes industry standard online advertising conversion rates.

The industry standard for online display ads back in 2016 was .35%. Many say it’s below that now. The Ellis Team converts 26 times that rate with an average in October at 9.13%. Some of our ads convert at 20%. The industry standard for a search ad is 1.91%. Again, the Ellis Team smashes industry standard online advertising conversion rates in every category.

So how do we do this? We’re not going to divulge that but suffice it to say we know a thing or two about online advertising, and it works. In fact, the Ellis Team was the first team in the country to put the MLS on our website. That first year we sold over 100 homes, and Realtors everywhere wondered what was going on.

NAR (National Association of Realtors) called us to Chicago to talk about this. They said the info was in the MLS books and couldn’t be made public to everyone on our website. After meeting with the president of NAR and NAR general counsel, they realized what we were doing was legal and met the bylaws of NAR. And this is how VOW (Virtual Office Websites) was born. SW Florida, you received it first. It later transitioned to IDX (Internet Data Exchange) and now Realtors across the country, along with Realtor.com, Zillow, and others are displaying agent’s listing data. I was always against Realtors letting 3^rd party companies display our data. I felt it should be reserved for agents displaying each other’s data, but somebody up at NAR decided otherwise.

Since those early days, we’ve been perfecting the art of online registrations and conversions. First, you must give people what they want. Your website must be fast, easy to use, and provide the most accurate and up to date data out there. Our website is real-time, so it’s fast, has all the listings including sold data, and it’s easy to use. Consumers like that they can see a photo gallery of all pictures instead of clicking one by one.

Buyers and sellers like that they can get neighborhood data in real-time and emailed to them weekly or monthly. This informs them of new listings, pending sales, and closed sales in a community. This is helpful when you’re keeping an eye on one or more communities.

Secondly, it helps to target the correct people. This is where the magic happens. It does no good to target the universe, because the universe will not all buy property, and certainly not in SW Florida. We target people who have an interest in SW Florida, even if they live out of the country. We find them from anywhere, and everywhere.

In the last month, www.LeeCountyOnline.com received 291 users from overseas. Our agents are working with several of them, and some are in a nice price point. Let’s not forget that we received 4,240 users last month from inside the US. And of those users, 82.5% are new users, so we’re advertising to and attracting thousands of new users each month.

It’s no wonder why Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty agents are so busy and selling so much. We know how to find the buyers, no matter where they are.

If you’re looking to buy, you should talk with our experienced agents. If you’re looking to sell, speak with Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4. Brett and Sande handle the listings. We know how to get Top Dollar for our sellers. Let us sit down with you and show you how we market. Nobody else does what we do, and the results speak for themselves. Find out what your home is worth at www.SWFLhomevalues.com

Good luck and Happy Selling!

November SW Florida Real Estate Update

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Sunday 1-3 PM

12760 Seaside Key CT, North Fort Myers Moody River Estates

Weekend Garage Sale

Saturday 8 AM-1 PM

2153 Treehaven Cir North

In 2018 we’ve been on a recent record pace, eclipsing 2015 levels for homes sold in one year. We haven’t gone back and analyzed against all-time highs more than a decade ago. Since prices and home sales reset after the correction, we’re analyzing against recent records. We believe we’re behind 2005 sales numbers, but not by as much as you would think. SW Florida homes closed YTD slipped slightly in September.

We’ve been trending above 2015 numbers, so what changed? In September of this year we dipped below 2015 levels and that set us back. We only had 922 closed sales in September. Back in 2015 we had 1,078. I think we’ll be able to track where our market is headed by how well it holds up to 2015 levels.

This year we had 968 new pending sales. Back in 2015 we had 1,169. This could be an indicator that closed sales in October may fall below 2015 levels as well. The median price back then was $211,578 and we had 3.7 months supply of inventory. Contrast that with today our median price is $245,000 and a 4.9 month supply of inventory.

What’s different today is median home prices are 15.8% higher than they were 3 years ago, and interest rates were 3.978% and falling in 2015. Today rates are at 4.875% and rising. Rising rates have a way of spoiling home sales in that they rob buyers of purchasing power. At some point they rob sellers too because if the sellers raise prices and rising interest rates also put pressure on buyers, the whole train stops. You can’t have both for very long. When buyers are maxed out, they’re at their limit. With every rise in rates, it could be at the seller’s expense next.

The only thing that can offset this is rising wages. Wages do appear to be on the rise somewhat, but they lag rises in rates. This might explain why home prices haven’t risen since January of 2017. Sure, we’ve seen blips up and down, but statistically they haven’t moved.

How does this affect sellers trying to sell their home? First off, we’ve got a balanced market. Homes are moving if marketed and priced correctly. Perhaps now more than ever marketing becomes critical. Prices are stagnant, interest rates are rising, and inventory is building. Hiring a Realtor who markets is critical. We’re not talking about posting it on all the websites. That’s not marketing. Anybody and everybody can do that. If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, then definitely give us a call. When you sit down and see, it’s easy to understand why our results are different.

This is also the silly season for Realtors. Board dues are up end of the year. Realtors that haven’t marketed or seen results from their lead generation begin shopping around. As a last-ditch effort to save their career, they look to low cost brokerages to reduce fees. Ultimately this doesn’t bring them more buyers or sellers, so they eventually quit, but it does buy them a few more months in the business. Others look to hop on teams that provide leads. Some are so deep in debt even this won’t work because they waited too long. Or, they just don’t know how to close leads.

When selecting a Realtor, ask to see their marketing. Then call us. I bet you’ll see a difference. Ask them how many listings they successfully sold last year. Ask them how long they’ve been with their company. Do they jump around? Will they be at the same company in a month or two? Can you get out of your listing if they move? Ask all these questions before you sign up.

Your best bet is to just call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty the first time. Sure, we help a lot of customers who are on their 2^nd or 3^rd Realtor. Wouldn’t it make sense to just use us first?

Call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-40402 Ext 4 or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com Good luck and Happy Selling!

Ellis Team Weekend Open Houses

Open House Saturday November 3 1-3 PM

Open House Sunday November 4 1-3 PM

Have you read the headlines lately? Home sales are sliding nationwide. September home sales fell 4.1% nationwide, and we hear new home construction has fallen too. What’s to blame for this? Home affordability. Rising rates are cutting into home buyers’ ability to pay ever increasing prices, and it’s showing up at the closing table. Rates have risen about 1% in the past year. Some experts warn of shifting nationwide real estate market upcoming.

We know that a 1% rise in interest rates erases about 11% of buyer’s purchasing power. So if a buyer could afford a $250,000 home last year, that same buyer can now only afford $222,500 unless they received a pay raise since last year. Nationwide wages are growing while unemployment is falling, so there is room for further gains, but that takes time. Higher rates are here now.

Locally in SW Florida, we may be in good shape. If you look at the chart, you’ll notice that SW Florida hasn’t participated in a price run-up the past two years like the rest of the state has. Prices in September are down. The median price in September was down 3.9% while the average price was down 3.5%. Remember, closing last year was disrupted due to Hurricane Irma, so we can’t read too much into this just yet. We don’t know if the lower or higher end were disrupted, so these numbers could potentially level out in coming months.

We know active inventory is up 18% over last year. Again, many listings came off the market after Irma, so that’s not a surprise. Inventory has been building a bit in 2018, but so have the closed sales. In fact, 2018 is shaping up to be a very good year for home sales. We have the highest YTD home sales of any year since 2015.

Is SW Florida in a Shifting Market? Not right now. Technically we’re still in a seller’s market, but it is getting very close to a balanced market. The thing that may be protecting SW Florida versus the rest of the country is the fact that we didn’t go up in value the past 2 years. The median price of a home in January 2017 was $245,000. Today, it’s $245,000. The average price of a home was $340,604 in January 2017. Today it’s $313,102.

Could our market shift? Absolutely. No market stays the same forever. Agents who have been in the business less than 5 years probably don’t know how to handle a shifting market. The way you sell in a rising market is completely different than in a declining market. An experienced agent can sell in an up, down, or sideways market. Today, all indications are we’ve got a pretty good market, and there’s no reason to believe that will change drastically one way or the other.

It always pays to study the market. We have a Market Report section on our website, so buyers and sellers can study the active, pending, and sold listings in a neighborhood as well as view all the photos. No other site has the sold data for you like this. It’s updated instantly, so when a home goes pending or sells in your neighborhood, you’ll see it live. You can create your own neighborhood report if you don’t see yours listed. Simply go to www.LeeCountyOnline.com to view your neighborhood.

If you want a quick and Free home price analysis, go to www.SWFLhomevalues.com In less than a minute you’ll have your home’s value. If you’re thinking of selling, please call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4. We’ll be happy to answer your questions, show you how much you’ll net at closing, and about how long it will take to sell your home.

Good luck and Happy Selling!

A few weeks ago, we wrote about how strong closings have been in 2018. This week we’ll talk about two more indicators that help us evaluate the health of the market; median time to contract and dollar volume. Currently median time to contract date 63 days this year.

The median time to contract is 63 days this year. This is measured by taking the number of days from listing to time of pending contract. In other words, it’s taking just over 2 months for homes to go under contract. If you have a home on the market and it’s taking longer than that, it’s either not being marketed correctly, it’s overpriced, or both.

Because the market has been strong in 2018, the median time to contract is down 4.5%. It’s taking less time to sell homes this year than last. In the past month or two we’ve seen listings increase, and yet the market has gobbled up many of these listings. This tells us buyers are out there and ready to buy, but at the right price. Even in a hot seller’s markets some sellers seem to overshoot the market. Ask all those sellers in 2005 and 2006 who were on the market and failed to sell if they’d love to have that opportunity back.

Some sellers will always be too greedy for the market. There’s a term for them. They’re called Expireds because they were never priced to sell at the market. It might not be their fault. If they demanded more than the market would bear, it is. Perhaps they listened to their agent who didn’t really know that market, or really needed a listing badly and convinced the seller they could sell it higher than any other agent. I guess you could say it’s the seller’s fault for listening to the wrong people, but how is a seller to know for sure?

We see the same mistake from buyers. They low-ball sellers and seem to come up short on every offer. Their goal was to purchase a house, and yet they see everyone else buying but they can’t seem to score a deal. Greed is getting in their way, just as it does for sellers who overprice. Greed prevents more buyers and sellers from accomplishing their goals than anything, followed closely by fear.

People have a fear of making a mistake, so often they do nothing. The sad reality is doing nothing may very well be the biggest mistake they could make. A seller riding the market down is no fun. A buyer watching interest rates rise while they sit on sidelines is no fun either.

Getting back to the market, the other indicator we watch is dollar volume. Dollar volume is the cumulative total of all sales. It is of course influenced by the number of closings and the average price. As you can see, dollar volume of sales was up 12.9% in August and up 14.9% year to date. By all accounts, 2018 has been a very good year for real estate sales.

Waiting in this market can be a costly mistake, both on the buy side and the sale side. It pays to work with a professional that knows the numbers. I can assure you, agents on the Ellis Team know the market numbers.

If you’re looking to sell a home, call Sande or Brett Ellis at 239-489-4042 Ext 4. If you’re looking to buy, our team of friendly and knowledgeable agents can help you too. Don’t forget to check out www.LeeCountyOnline.com It has all the listings, and it’s updated instantly, so you’ll know about hot new listings before other buyers and sellers on those other sites. Sometimes they take days to update, and sometimes listings are missing because the agent decides not to list them there. We have all the listings. You can even find out what your homes is worth online too.

Always call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty 239-489-4042. We’ll take good care of you, and give you the straight scoop with what’s really going on in the market!

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