We are studying preliminary sales numbers for August from MLS. The numbers suggest a soft landing for sales prices in SW Florida.

Golf courses in Florida are mostly flat because much of Florida’s terrain is flat. Up North, many golf courses have elevated greens and greens that are downhill.  This past year our local real estate market felt like buyers were having to hit elevated shots to an elevated green to get their offer accepted.

Golfers know that for every elevated green there may be future shots to a downhill green.  Buyers have the same assumptions as golfers.  They believe what goes up must come down.

Soft Landing for Sales Prices

The reality is, the elevated green is the new level playing field.  While we will still have multiple offers on properties due to low inventory, we don’t believe the overall market is going to climb like it did this past year.  In fact, we are already seeing in the numbers a leveling off.  This is a trend that has been happening for about 3 months, but because it doesn’t feel like a flattening market, sellers and agents have not recognized it.

If you speak with real estate agents lately, they will tell you the market has cooled in the last few weeks.  The market has not cooled, it has leveled. When sellers bring a property to market correctly priced, there are many buyers.  When a property enters the market overpriced, we don’t have 50 buyers jumping at opportunity to bid on it.

Diminishing Price Increases

We saw 36% price increases year over year, but as we enter future months those will begin to diminish as prices have stopped rising.  We will still see year over year gains until one of two things happen.  As prices are stagnant, we will either run out of months and stats will show a leveling or the market will move once again.

If the market does not make a move, you will see prices staying the same.  We are already seeing this in the month over month prices.  Unofficial numbers for August show an average sales price of $466,281 and a median sales price of $365,000.  July 2021 official numbers showed an average sales price of $469,072 and a median sales price of $360,000.  In essence, the average price went down about $3,000 and median price went up about $5,000.  Keep in mind, these are still unofficial numbers.  There could be more sales reported from MLS participants from other boards throughout the state.

These numbers are believable though because we have been seeing this trend. Prices since April and May have leveled off.  Some is seasonal, and some is buyers have maxed out.

Sellers Should Sell Now

Listing inventory has leveled.  It’s not going up or down.  We are telling sellers now may be the time to sell. There is not much advantage in waiting now. We have low inventory.  Prices have stalled.  Interest rates are expected to climb when the Fed ends tapering.  This will put pressure on buyers and further cap future gains.  It just feels like this market is now fully valued unless something changes.

For years we said Florida was undervalued.  Today, it might be fairly valued.  We are not expecting prices to vary wildly.  We believe we are in a trading range.

Buyers should take advantage before rates rise and sellers should take advantage of the new normal in pricing.  Both sides can do well if they do not get greedy.  Waiting for a better opportunity tomorrow just doesn’t sound like the best plan.

If you’d like to talk about the market, call Sande or Brett Ellis 239-310-6500 or visit www.SWFLHomevalues.com to track your home’s value monthly.

Always call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty.  We are here to help!

While analyzing current market statistics we see September inventory levels rise slightly in select price ranges.  Six out of nine price ranges saw an increase in the month’s supply of inventory while five of nine saw an increase in the raw number of listings.

September Inventory Levels Rise Slightly

Four out of nine price ranges saw an increase in the number of sales.  In a hot market, you can only sell what you have.  As prices increased, some homes graduated to the next price level which increased their inventory, and increased chances of a sale in that price range.

With multiple offers, sometimes we would see a listing in one price range result in a sale in a higher price range because it sold over asking price.  For this reason, we must be careful about analyzing the numbers and interpreting what they really mean.

Inventory Still Historically Low

The overall market still stands at less than 1 month supply, which is low.  A buyer can assume any listing in any of the price ranges could be receiving multiple offers if they were priced correctly coming to the market.  There are some overpriced listings, and no matter how hot the market is, may never sell.

As more listings enter the market, buyers have slightly more choices.  The good ones still get swallowed up fast.  It is important for buyers to have their ducks in a row before they go shopping.

We monitor the monthly numbers, and we are studying the weekly numbers.  We saw a 9-home decrease in the weekly numbers which means more homes came off the market than went on in the last week.  Because this market is so hot, we expect volatility in those weekly numbers.  It could also be sellers were waiting until after Labor Day to place their home on the market while buyers did not wait.

Interest rates rose slightly in the past week.  Rising rates increase the cost of borrowing for buyers.  Initially rising rates adds motivation to buyers to purchase before rates go higher.  This assumes buyers were sitting on the fence.  In our current market it is more likely buyers could not find a home as the winning bid, so they settled for a rental for another year.

Rents are sky high currently. As tenants come off lease we expect them to look to purchase if they can find a home.  As the eviction moratorium abates, we expect rent prices could come down.

Eventually rising rates will hurt home buyers.  The wildcard will be if home buyers soften due to rising borrowing costs, how does northern buyers relocating here compensate for that?  This past year financed buyers were not winning many bids anyway so rising rates would have made no difference.  If buyers continue their march to Florida, rising rates might not matter.  We will keep our eye on migration patterns.

Is Now a Good Time to Sell?

Many homeowners are contemplating if now might be the time to sell.  Prices have risen a good amount, and some are surprised at how much their property is worth.  Homeowners also realize we are not likely to see price gains like this going forward.  Nobody knows the future and where prices will go. We think it is safe to say prices will not rise 36% in one year again anytime soon.

If you have been wondering if now might be the time to sell, call Brett or Sande Ellis at 239-310-6500 We will be happy to speak with you and discuss your options.  Some sellers appreciate our Free and easy home valuation tool where you can see your home’s value online instantly.  The system will also email you updates every month so you can track your home’s value going forward.  This is great for people who do not want to sell now but are interested in their home’s value.

Good luck and Happy Home Buying and Selling!

See last week’s article “Local Home Sales Highest on Record“

If you look at the graph it would appear that real estate prices leveled off the past few months.  Is that really the case?

Median and average prices are up 36% in June over 2020.  That is a huge gain and expecting future gains like this is not sustainable.  Let’s dive into 3 key price components to get an idea on where this market is headed.

1. Most of the price gains you see reported monthly have already occurred. For instance, May’s numbers were up 38.7% over last year. June’s numbers are a continuation of those gains that have occurred because they are year over year, not month over month.
2. It is not uncommon for prices to adjust backward month over month in June. Traditionally April and May are the biggest price months and prices slip back in summer. It is the seasonality of the market as to when higher priced homes sell in SW Florida.  This graph doesn’t go far enough back to show this.
3. Listings are on the uptick even though we are still too low. Listing inventory peaked in February 2019 and has been on a steady decline since then. Typically, inventory does not pick up in April, May, and June, but it has this year. Is the increasing inventory enough to make a dent in this market? Not yet, it is still way too low.

So, what can we take from all of this? Prices can continue to gain going forward, but not at the 30% plus rate.  Future price gains depend on listing inventory, interest rates, the economy, and northern states buyers continuing to see Florida as a better alternative to where they are now. We doubt real estate prices leveled off, but gains will be more moderate going forward.

Inventory is Rising

Listing inventory is rising.  Home inventory does not usually rise this time of year, however Covid may have influenced timing is seller’s decisions. Many sellers were prevented from coming to Florida to get their home ready.  Others did not want to sell while they occupied the home during a pandemic.  It is possible Covid put off some sales decisions and altered the timing of when listings hit the market.

Inventory levels will be something we watch going forward.  It is quite possible all the typical historical seasonality and trends will be off until the economy and real estate market rebalances itself.

Is Now the Time to Sell? 

If you are a seller, now is a good time to sell.  Inventory is rising but not to an extent that will hurt home sellers.  We are still seeing multiple offers on properties.  Buyers still outnumber sellers.  Sellers hold the advantage right now, and it is always more fun to sell when you have the advantage.  When buyers hold the advantage, they do not care about how much you want or need for the home.

Buyers today are not in competition with the seller.  They are in competition with other buyers for the home they want.  When the market turns, the seller will be in competition with other sellers.  Right now, sellers have little competition.

After the Fall, season will be here before we know it.  We do not know what the Covid landscape will look like, which states will be open, or if we will have Covid issues at all.  Right now, we do, and the economy may tighten down again.

We are writing this article before the Fed releases comments from their July meeting.  How the markets react to these comments and the future of interest rates could impact the stock and real estate markets.

If you have contemplated selling, call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-310-6500 and get the facts.  Home prices are going up, but for how long?  If you just want a quick home price for your home, go to www.SWFLhomevaules.com Our online value system will give you a good estimate of your home’s value, and it will email you every month the price changes.  Even if you don’t agree with the actual estimate, you will be able to see which direction the market is moving for your home.

Don’t Settle for Appraised Value

Of course, Sande and Brett Ellis will be happy to visit your home and give you a more detailed value for your home if you would like.  We can show you how our marketing is getting sellers more than the price estimates of their home and how we generate multiple buyers.  Don’t just sell for appraised value when you can get more in this market.  You need the right Realtor to do this. Brett and Sande have over 30+ years and over 5,000 transactions experience, so we know our stuff.

We look forward to helping you!

According to the latest report from Updater, Fort Myers net migration ranked highest in the country.  Net migration is a measure of the amount of people moving in and out of a metro area.  Fort Myers beat out Savannah GA, Austin TX, Wilmington NC, and Sarasota FL for the top spot in the 1^st quarter of 2021.  The Fort Myers/Cape Coral area previously held the #2 spot for 4^th quarter of 2020.

Fort Myers Net Migration Ranked Highest

The top 5 cities people are moving out of in the 1^st quarter were Milwaukee WI, Cleveland OH, New York NY, St Louis MO, and Colorado Springs CO.

Florida is also in the top 5 states for incoming net migration.  The bottom five states were Nebraska, New York, Alaska, Vermont, and South Dakota.  Our blog will have a link to the entire report you can see for yourself.

Advanced Marketing to Reach Out of Town Buyers

The Ellis Team uses artificial intelligence to advertise in markets up North looking for buyers for our sellers.   Reports like this make it easier for agents who do not have access to artificial intelligence to give them a guide on where to spend marketing dollars.  For instance, if you were listing a home in SW Florida with this information you could now seek out targeted buyers from these markets who have an interest in buying in Florida.

When we list a property, we not only market to local buyers but also worldwide.  Simply listing a home on Zillow or Realtor.com does not count.  That is not marketing.  Some sellers mistakenly believe that having their home on national portals will sell their home.  The fact is, every home is on these portals, so what will make your home stand out if everyone else is on them too?

Nothing Special About Online Listings

If someone handed you a vinyl record of Elvis’s top song “All Shook Up” you would probably be happy because you now owned something valuable.  If you later found out that some company produced these as a promotion and made 2 billion copies and everybody had one, you might feel a little let down.  The same is true with online listings.  Sellers believe if their home is listed on Zillow and Realtor.com they have done something valuable.  When they later find out every listing in the MLS goes there automatically, they begin to realize that service is not so special.  They are just like everyone else.

Marketing a home directly where buyers are coming from is taking it up a level.  In the old days, to make our listings stand out we would market homes both locally and in places like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.  This was a way to reach buyers that were not typically attracted locally.

Today we can find those buyers both in print and digitally online.  Last weekend we ran print ads locally and digital ads in several markets throughout the country. We pulled in several buyers for our $800,000 listing in Cape Coral.  This weekend we will be doing the same thing for some new listings. We have two beautiful listings coming on the market in Horse Creek and Cape Coral.

Top Dollar For Your Home

In this hot market anyone can sell a home.  To get Top Dollar, your marketing must go the extra mile.  Years ago, marketing was important to sell a home at all.  Today, marketing is critically important to getting Top Dollar.

Call Sande or Brett Ellis at 239-310-6500 to find out how we can put this exclusive marketing to work for your home and get you Top Dollar.  Or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com to find your home’s value today the free, quick, and easy way.

Always Call the Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty!  You’ll be glad you did.

See last week’s article “June Housing Inventory Levels Update”

New Listing in Cape Coral-Pool Home Hitting the Market