Category Archives: Fort Myers

Fort Myers Florida news and information.

Fort Myers Cape Coral Real Estate Sales Soared to Another New Record in May

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SW Florida real estate sales in Fort Myers and Cape Coral Florida set new records again in May with single family home sales in Cape Coral and Fort Myers totalling 1,417 sales, eclipsing the May 2005 sales record of 1,309.  See SW Florida Real Estate Homes Closed 2005-2009 chart illustrating home sales by month since 2005.  Median sales prices for single family homes in Cape Coral and Fort Myers was up 3.51% from April median home prices, up to $88,500.  For a complete look at median single family home sale prices in Fort Myers Cape Coral since 2005, see the SW Florida Real Estate Sales Prices 2005-2009 graph.

Prices are still falling in the mid to upper levels of the SW Florida real estate market, while prices seemed to have stabilized in the entry level market.  First time home buyers are buying as fast as they can as they compete with investors for the best bargains.  Short sales are picking up as banks cut through the red tape of approving short sales, although time frames are still long.  Canadians are buying properties in SW Florida due to the favorable exchange rate, and the fact that Florida is on sale.

Fort Myers Cape Coral Real Estate Sales Soared

Condo sales for May in Cape Coral and Fort Myers were up 41% Vs. the State of Florida which was up 21%.  Median sales prices for condos in SW Florida were down 35% year over year, as opposed to the statewide average of down 38%.  See the Florida Sales Report May 2009 Existing Condos graph.

It looks like the 2nd Qtr is shaping up to be another record setting quarter for home sales.  The 1st Qtr home sales in Lee County Florida sure was.  We won’t know for another month when June sales are officially released.

Shortly we’ll be releasing the latest Current Market Index for Fort Myers and Cape Coral for June which should explain where our market is headed.

South Fort Myers Little League County Champions

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The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers has long supported baseball in Lee County, and this year baseball has paid back.  Jason Ellis, Brett’s son played for the Junior Twins in South Fort Myers and the Junior Twins took home the County Championship this past week, which is a tremendous achievement.

South Fort Myers Little League County Champions Jason Ellis and Brett Ellis
Jason Ellis and Brett Ellis

South Fort Myers Little League County Champions

Paul Hobby managed the team and did an excellent job as he is a great role model with the kids.  The coaches all put in extra duty this year to get the kids ready for a winning season, and the kids worked hard too.  Brett Ellis and Matt Scott coached the team along with Paul.

Manager Paul Hobby, Coaches Brett Ellis and Matt Scott, and the Twins
Manager Paul Hobby, Coaches Brett Ellis and Matt Scott, and the Twins

South Fort Myers Junior Twins: The team won the Lee County Championship over the South Fort Myers Red Sox 13-3 on Friday. Of the 23 Junior Little League teams in Lee County, the South Fort Myers Little League had all four of its squads in the county semifinals. The Twins captured a 9-8 semifinal victory over the SFM Cardinals. The SFM Red Sox outfought the SFM Mariners for a 4-2 victory in the semifinals. Zach Belcher was the winning pitcher for the SFM Twins in the championship game, pitching five innings.

2009 South Fort Myers Junior Twins Championship Team Photo
2009 South Fort Myers Junior Twins Championship Team Photo

Read News Press coverage of Title Game.

SE Fort Myers Florida Real Estate Video Update

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This week’s SW Florida real estate video update presented by The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group focuses on SE Fort Myers Florida.  SE Fort Myers consists of zip codes 33912, 33913, 33966, and 33967 and covers Gateway, Fort Myers South around the Daniel’s Parkway Corridor over to US 41 down tthrough San Carlos Park.

SE Fort Myers Florida Real Estate Video Update

View this week’s SE Fort Myers Florida Real Estate Video Update  Average prices were down about 22% in SE Fort Myers, however sales were up significantly.

Follow the Ellis Team on Twitter for news on the Fort Myers and Cape Coral Real Estate Markets

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Follow The Ellis Team on Twitter, so you can keep up to date on Fort Myers and Cape Coral real estate news and information, including information on the entire Southwest Florida real estate market.  Our latest post on Twitter includes our Cape Coral real estate video update.  Check our our Ellis team SW Florida Top Agents page on Twitter.

SW Florida Real Estate Home Sales Statistics Released for September 2008

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SW Florida Real Estate Home Sales Statistics

Fort Myers and Cape Coral saw a 128% increase in home sales over last year as reported by the Florida Associatiopn of Realtors.  Statewide sales were up 24%, but locally they were up much greater becuase affrodability is back in the SW Florida real estate market what is not priced into all Florida markets. Median sale price is Fort Myers and Cape Coral dropped to $141,400 from $231,600 last year.

Condo sales in Cape Coral and Fort Myers saw a 50% rise in condo sales over last year, while the median price dropped 17% to $185,000.

Home sale prices declined for the 4th straight month in Fort Myers and Cape Coral real estate.  See our month over month prices graph. You can also view a monthly price summary by year for Fort Myers and Cape Coral real estate.  We’ve also included a home sales by month for the past several years for Fort Myers and Cape Coral.

We’ve created some videos for you to learn about the SW Florida real estate market better.  Some of these videos were newscasts done on TV, while others were simply us on a video camera talking about the market in our office.  We’ll be adding more videos like the newscast we did for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams a few weeks ago, so stay tuned.

Thank you for reading our SW Florida Real Estate Home Sales Statistics update this week.  We look forward to bringing you further SW Florida Real Estate Home Sales Statistics.

NBC-2 Report-Out of State Buyers Snatching up Bargain Homes

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NBC-2 did a report Monday night about how out of state buyers are snatching up bargains in SW Florida.  Buyers have been coming in from all over looking for bargains, some of them foreclosures, in the Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Lehigh Acres area.

The Ellis Team lists a lot of bank owned foreclosures and we are seeing buyers snatch up these properties in hours.  Many of these properties receive multiple offers in just a few days, so it’s important for buyers to know the rules the lender is requiring and to follow them.

Buyers quite often ignore the rules and are disappointed when their offer is not accepted.  Working with an agent who knows the requirements of the offer will increase your chances of acquiring the property, although it cannot guarantee it when multiple offers are invloved.

We will be adding shortly a way to search for foreclosures on our website.  To search the entire SW Florida real estate MLS, including Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, and Cape Coral, visit www.Leecountyonline.com

 

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Busy Week in the News For The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers Florida

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Brett Ellis on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams SW FLorida real estate affordability

 

Busy Week in the News For The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers Florida

NBC News featured SW Florida’s real estate market and the Ellis Team at RE/MAX in a story which concentrated on housing affordability.  Lower prices are attracting buyers back into the market, and home sales statistics bear this out.  Home sales have been up dramatically over last year each month this year.  NBC News decided to come to the epicenter of where the housing crisis turned bad, and noticed there may be a turn around in the works, which could be a positive sign for other parts of the country in the coming years. Click here to watch The Flip Side of Foreclosures: Affordable Homes  MSNBC also has a Blog article up about this story Mortgages Are Out There . And So Are Bargains which also features the Ellis Team in the Blog.

NBC Today Show from Fort Myers Florida featuring Brett Ellis of RE/MAX Realty Group

The NBC Today Show visited Fort Myers on September 23 and reported on foreclosures in the SW Florida real estate market, particularly on Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral Florida.  NBC came to The Ellis Team for answers.  Click here to watch Florida’s Foreclosure Hot Zone.

 

Last night Brett Ellis was also on the ABC News about home sales increasing while prices have been declining.  Click here to watch this story.

 

This past week Brett Ellis was featured on WINK News regarding Governor Sarah Palin’s speech in Fort Myers, and Mike Ellis was seen live on WINK News as a local business leader and his reaction to the presidential debate.  We’ll try to get video uploaded on these two stories later on.

The O’Reilly Factor called and asked Brett Ellis to be on The O’Reilly Factor this past Tuesday.  Unfortunately the taping time with Bill O’Reilly conflicted with Brett’s son’s baseball game that night, so we had to pass on that interview.

Ellis Team to Appear on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Regarding Fort Myers Housing Affordability

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Ellis Team to Appear on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Regarding Fort Myers Housing Affordability

Ellis Team to Appear on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Regarding Fort Myers Housing Affordability

Brett Ellis of The Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group will appear this week on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.  The focus will be on buyer affordability in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral housing market, and how buyers have begun purchasing in 2008 as affordability has come back to the market.  Home sales in July were up 80% over last year, and up 32% in August over last year.

This should be a positive story about the SW Florida real estate market.  The show will air Wednesday October 8, 2008 at 6:30 PM ET

To search for your home, click here to search the entire MLS.

Edit-Since this story ran Fort Myers has emerged from the foreclosure crisis and rebounded completely.  The Today Show did a story during the 2008 presidential election.

Since this story ran the Ellis Team moved to Keller Williams Realty from RE/MAX Realty Group. We explain why in the link.  Not only has the SW Florida real estate market rebounded, so have sales at the Ellis Team.  Keller Williams was built for teams and we have been able to attract top talent by offering ore opportunity to our team members.

NBC Today Show Interviews Ellis Team in Fort Myers

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NBC Today Show Interviews Ellis Team in Fort Myers

 

NBC Today Show Interviews Ellis Team in Fort Myers

The Ellis Team was featured on the NBC Today Show regarding the presidential election.  Florida has been identified as a battleground state, and the housing market will play a vital role in how people select the next president.  The Fort Myers, Cape Coral, and Lehigh Acres area have been identified as the epicenter of what happened in Florida, and NBC wanted to come here and report on what is happening today.

Click here to watch the viddeo.  The good news is that home sales were up 80% over July 2007 numbers and up 41% over August 2007 numbers, so even though prices are lower, buyers are back in the market scooping up properties because they are affordable.

Foreclosures have been highest in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres where speculators built many homes in hopes of flipping to other investors or end users, but the speculators overbuilt for the current demand.  Fort Myers has been hit with some foreclosures, but nothing like the Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres area.  For detailed statistics on the SW Florida housing market, visit our housing statistics page.

 

Ellis Team SW Florida Real Estate Current Market Index for Fort Myers Cape Coral Area

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The latest Fort Myers Cape Coral SW Florida real estate Current Market Index has been released today and the overall Fort Myers Cape Coral housing index numbers fell to 7.75, from 7.88 the month prior.  Cape Coral again led the way as Cape’s index fell to 6.38 while Fort Myers stands at 13.76.  The lower the number the more favorable it is for sellers, and the higher the number the more favorable for buyers.

Current Market Index for Fort Myers Cape Coral Area

 

Fort Myers Cape Coral SW Florida real estate current market index chart

Lee County listing inventory for single family homes remained steady at 15,530 up a mere 7 homes from last month, and pending sales increased to 1,617, up from 1,546 in August.  The overall Lee County Florida Current Market Index is at 9.60 in September, down from 10.04 in August.  The September condo index stands at 20.21, up from 19.27 in August.

These numbers tell us the overall market is basically holding steady to slightly improving since August, and should bode well for closings in future months.  It also tells us that so far the market has been absorbing the influx of foreclosures and selling them as they are not adding to inventory supply.  This is another positive sign as the local SW Florida real estate market would be in trouble if the foreclosure activity added to inventory supplies.  The large number of foreclosures is however keeping the supply where it is and preventing it from declining.