Expansion of I-75 would be a welcome sign.  I-75 needs to be widened today to 6 lanes, and really 10 lanes to accomodate future traffic.  The SW Florida quality of life is at issue as I-75 is a parking lot in high season and at rush hour.

Julie Scott of Bank of America joins the Ellis Team in sponsoring SW Florida’s only weekly radio show on real estate, "The Future of Real Estate."

The show airs weekly on AM 1240 in Lee County and AM 1270 in Collier County Saturday’s at 11:00  It is also broadcast online on NBC’s website, as well as ABC’s website.  It is also Podcast on iTunes.

Next week we’ll announce another new sponsor.

The Florida Association of Realtors released sales numbers today for SW Florida and the entire state of Florida.  Single family home sales were down 38% in Fort Myers and Cape Coral from last years number and the median sales price was down 9% from $280,300 last year to $256,100 this year.  Naples sales data not available as the Naples Board of Realtors has stopped reporting sales numbers to the state.

Condo sales in Fort Myers and Cape Coral Florida were down 24% and the median sales price was down 31% from $356,600 last year to $247,600 this year.

In a few days we’ll post charts which illusttrate month by month sales numbers, as well as month over month numbers so you can put these numbers in perspective.

A local TV station called the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers and said they had a report from another local Realtor that the past few months were record months for sales.  They wanted our opinion on that statement.

We told them we have seen increased buyer activity and sales, but the word record is a strong word and we don’t think we’re back to record levels yet, or anything close to that.  What we can say is that buyers are recognizing that homes are affordable again, and back in their price range after 1.5 years of price drops.

Interest rates are also low, and expected to rise about 1/2 percent the rest of the year, so waiting can actually cost a buyer.  Buyers are also noticing that the homes that are priced correctly are disappearing fast. 

If you’re in the market to buy, you can’t wait or another buyer will beat you to it.  The best properties are selling.  That’s not to say that all properties are selling, because they are not.  Some sellers still have not adjusted to the new reality.  The sellers that have adjusted are already sold, their home is pending sale, or it will be soon.

In the next few days we’ll report on home sales in the Fort Myers Cape Coral real estate market.

The past few weeks we’ve been working hard selling homes and condos in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral real estate market in SW Florida.  This past week we double dipped a home in Daniel’s Park, sold a townhome that had been on the market awhile in Oakcrest Villas, and placed several other homes under contract.  Double dipping is a real estate term which describes when an agent is both the listing agent and the selling agent, essentially double dipping both ends of the transaction.

We’re getting close to closing our $1 million + home in the Forrest that was only on the market a few days. 

In a few days we’ll be updating our SW Florida Real Estate website which will reflect new sales numbers put out by the Florida Association of Realtors.  It will be interesting to compare and see if the overall market is enjoying the flurry of activity, or if it’s isolated to top producing agents who are still marketing heavily. Consumers can search the Fort Myers Cape Coral MLS.

We expect market activity to rise thoughout the balance of 2007.

RE/MAX International hosted their annual real estate convention, inviting over 120,000 agents to attend. RE/MAX is the top real estate company in the world.  Brett Ellis of the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers was a featured speaker.  Brett spoke to top agents from all over the world on the topic of "Blogging for Fun and Profit."  Brett was accompanied by Linda Davis, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Realty Group in Connecticut, and Michael Russer, Mr. Internet and international conusltant.

The presentation was also filmed by RSN, (RE/MAX Satellite Network) for further training.  RSN beams educational programming and training via sattelite to all RE/MAX agents worldwide, and via RE/MAX University.

Showings picked up again in February over January, which is a positive sign.  March is typically the peak of season, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see March showings increase of February’s numbers in SW Florida.

February 2007 Statistics:

January 2007 Statistics:

December Statistics:

November Statistics:

Numbers released by the Florida Association of Realtors indicated single Family home median prices increased in Fort Myers/ Cape Coral for the third straight month in January of 2007, posting a 1.7 percent increase over December 2006 sale prices.  Median prices are down against 2006 numbers, which was to be expected because sale prices have been down since mid-year 2006.  Each month we’ll report negative numbers year over year until we surpass previous years levels.

While we’re glad to see median price gains for the third straight month, we’re not ready to state that our market has bottomed yet. We’d like to see an end to increasing inventory levels, along with a rise in pending sales before we make that call. We do see and end in sight now. Closed sales were down significantly in January 2007 Vs 2006 levels.

We’re not as optimistic about Condo sales. Condo sales are off significantly, and we have a 3 year supply of condos on the market today.  We’re concerned that once the prime condo selling season ends (Easter) that many frustrated condo sellers will be forced to reduce prices significantly to sell their units.  Condo sellers have become increasingly frustrated  due to a backlog in inventory, rising insurance and maintanence fees costs, and rising property taxes.

The News Press held their annual Market Watch last night.  Presenters Frank D’Alessandro and Denny Grimes presented their opinions on where the market has been and where it is headed.

Both presenters offered a grim outlook for the residential real estate market in SW Florida for 2007.  Denny said "Needy or Greedy, the Market doesn’t care" and "Keep out the Ginsu knives, more slicing is needed" in regards to pricing. 

Denny also said the affordable housing crisis is over, a fact we also pointed out on Pg 2 of our 2007 State of the Market Report, and in our 2007 State of the Market Supplement.

We agree with about 99% of the facts the presenters made at the News Press Market Watch, and we agree generally with their overall assessments.  We might point out however, a few topics for discussion.

In Denny’s mind sellers need to get realistic in price.  It is true we have many sellers who are in Denial (See PG 2 of our report).  We have however found that there is a market at the right price, and many sellers have set that bar.  The sellers who are there are selling.  So not all sellers need to reduce their price, only the over-priced sellers.

Secondly, we feel it is also incumbent that buyers get realistic as well.  Many buyers want to low-ball everything, and we know that some properties are actually priced correctly.  Those properties need to be bought, because they are valued properly, and they are being bought. 

Because buyers are reading sensational statements, buyers are afraid to step up, even though many can now afford to buy again.  Nobody wants to overpay, and nobody wants to buy now if they think the market is headed for a crash.  We don’t believe the market is headed for a crash, quite the contrary.  Denny correctly pointed out that it will be impossible to know when we’ve actually hit bottom.  We’ll know after it’s already occurred, and then it will be too late.

We believe in many cases the market has set a bottom, and only when more sellers reach that level will they be successful in selling.  Because many sellers actually are selling, we know there is demand, and much pent-up demand at that.  That demand will grow much stronger once buyers regain confidence.   The headline from the News Press paper "Show at Harborside Event Center presents grim outlook on slumping housing sales" will do nothing to renew that confidence anytime soon. 

We don’t have a grim outlook.  We think buyers are asking for permission to buy, anything to validate their feeling that now is the time to jump back in.  Headlines like this are sensational and don’t ease fears, and perpetuate a slumping market.

Facts are facts, and nobody is hiding the fact that we have an excess supply of homes and condos on the market in the SW Florida real estate market.  Yes, many sellers need to reduce prices to be successful, but not all.  We’re selling many homes quickly because sellers are pricing their homes correctly the first time.  Aggressive marketing, and aggressive pricing is a formula for success in this market.

Denny was absolutely correct in two areas.  1.  Sellers need to take responsibility and stop blaming their agent, their neighbor, etc for the fact they can’t get a price more in line with 2005 prices.  2.  Real Estate agents need to start standing up to sellers and telling them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.

Unfortunately, some agents who haven’t been around through up and down cycles don’t know how to do this, and really don’t understand what is happening.  Lastly, many sellers shop around for an agent who agrees with them on price, and eventually they’ll find one who will take the listing at their price.

Sellers might want to save themselves a lot of time and hassle and hire an experienced agent the first time instead of the third time.  A home usually sells for a better price if it is priced correctly and doesn’t become stale on the market.

Our hats go off to Denny and Frank for delivering a bitter pill.  While our outlook on the market may differ somewhat, we find that we agree with them much much more than we disagree, and they did a fantastic job presenting facts.

Brett Ellis