Tag Archives: Lee County real estate market

Lee County Real Estate Market Setting Records

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We’ve got good news for sellers and for buyers.  The Lee County real estate market is setting records and you might be wondering how this is good news for buyers.

Total Dollar Volume Lee County Real Estate Market

First off, the total dollar volume of sales increased 45.5% to a whopping $553.5 Million in August sales, a new high for the year. Three things are spurring these sales.  Low interest rates, people moving to Florida, and more inventory coming to market.  Median prices rose 16.5% in August over last year, and closed sales were up 16.5% as well.  Both positive numbers added to the rise in dollar volume.

When inventory is falling like it has, you cannot have increased sales forever.  Eventually you’ll run out of inventory to sell. What saved the day is a 32.3% rise in new listings over last year.  This is the good news for buyers.  Before we get too carried away, we’d like to point out one fact.

Lee County Real Estate Market New Listings
New Listings

It is true listings were up 32.3%.  August new listings were 1,547.  New pending sales was 1,796.  This means 249 more homes went under contract than came to the market.  We know some of those deals will fall out over inspection issues, appraisal, etc.  Still, more homes are going pending than coming to market, so that is not a sign of increasing inventory.  The silver lining is more new listings came up than last year.  Without those new listings, dollar volume would not be as high.

We are starting to receive more calls from sellers wondering if now might be a good time to cash out of their property.  Their property has served them well, and they know inventory is low and sellers are in the driver’s seat.  Some sellers are looking to upgrade or downsize, and they feel now is a good time to sell, and they are correct.

We believe more of those conversations will be happening this year.  Will it be enough to cover the buyer demand we have right now?  Nobody knows that answer.  We do not know who will win the election, or even when it will be decided.  A vaccine isn’t approved yet, although tests look promising.  With so many unknowns, nobody can guarantee where the Lee County real estate market will be next year.

What we do know is buyers love Florida and they are moving here.  Sellers sit in a good position, and the sellers choosing to sell right now are doing well.  Agents who use technology and marketing at a high level are doing well, and others are struggling.

The real estate business is changing rapidly right now, and many agents won’t be in the business a year from now.  Some companies are also closing due to pressures of lead acquisition and market conditions.  Who you work with now is more important than ever.

Keep in mind, markets can swing, and little variations in the data can affect sellers.  Staying on top of the data can help sellers make quicker and better decisions.  When the market is on the move, you must pay attention.

The Ellis Team at Keller Williams Realty studies the market and the data.  Did you know you can see years’ worth of data on our blog? Subscribe to blog.topagent.com and you’ll receive timely trends as we publish them.

If you’d like to talk to Sande or Brett Ellis, give us a call 239-489-4042 Ext 4  We can discuss your situation and see if this hot market is right for you to make a move.  Having facts helps you make better decisions.  Brett and Sande are here to help.

Find out what your home is worth online for Free

Good luck and happy selling!

See last week’s article “Rising Florida Home Prices Caused by Low Inventory”

What Does $250,000 Buy in Lee County Real Estate Market?

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A lot of people ask what they can buy at certain price ranges in the SW Florida real estate market, so today we thought we’d pick a price range and report on that.  We answer the question, “What does $250,000 buy in Lee County real estate market?”

We logged into MLS but you can do the same at www.LeeCountyOnline.com and search like Realtors do and find the same information.

What Does $250,000 Buy in Lee County Real Estate Market MLS Search
Search Results on LeeCountyOnline.com

What Does $250,000 Buy in Lee County Real Estate Market?

In Cape Coral we spotted a brand new home in SW Cape Coral.  It is listed for $245,900 and has 2,180 sq ft. It has 5 bedrooms 3 baths and is on an oversized lot.

What Does $250,000 Buy in Lee County Real Estate Market Cape Coral
Cape Coral Home Under $250,000

We then decided to see if we could find any waterfront homes with gulf access in this price range.  We found 6. We found a home with 1,588 sq ft and a 10,000 lb boat lift with a spa in SW Cape Coral with gulf access. We found another gulf access home with boat lift and a pool. It has 1,436 sq ft and a single car garage.  It is 10 minutes to the river by boat.

Lee County Real Estate Market Gulf Access Waterfront Home Cape Coral
Cape Coral Gulf Access Waterfront Home

Next we decided to look at Fort Myers Beach and see what’s available for $250k.  We did find a small single family home for $219,000. It’s a 1 bedroom, 1 bath home with 630 sq ft.  but hey, it’s at the beach.  When we searched for condos we found 15 in that price range.  Some ranged from small 1 bedroom condos at Pink Shell with great investment potential to larger 1 bedroom units along the beach with greater size.  Manufactured housing opened up 7 more homes at Fort Myers Beach and many were waterfront.

In Fort Myers we found 69 single family homes listed up to $250,000. For instance, we found a 3 bedroom, 2 bath lakefront home in Botanica Lakes with 1,782 sq ft for $240,500.  It was built in 2012

What Does $250,000 Buy in Lee County Real Estate Market? Fort Myers Home Botanica Lakes Under $250,000
Fort Myers Home Botanica Lakes

As you go further south into Estero and Bonita the pickings get a little slimmer.  We found 33 single family homes available.  We found a cute 2 bedroom + den in the Villages at Country Creek for $249,900.  It has 1,382 sq ft, a 2 car garage, and has been completely updated with stainless steel appliances.

250000 Buy Lee County Real Estate Market Estero Home
Estero Home Villages at Country Creek

None of the listings shown today are our listings.  We just wanted to show you what your money will buy at this price range and show you how you can search and find these kinds of properties.

Our website allows you to see the home on the map so you can see exactly where it is and what it is close to, like shopping or water.  You can view all the photos of each home in the photo gallery. You can setup a showing request when you see something you like, or find out how much it will cost with the mortgage calculator.

You can also add homes to your favorites to easily find them again or check on their status, or save your search and have the system email you when new homes enter the market or when an owner changes their price.

You can search all price ranges and all areas, not just the $250k example we did today.  As Realtors we get to see a lot of homes each week.  If you’ve been searching awhile and having a hard time making sense of it all, you’re not alone.

Sometimes it pays just to sit down with a good agent who listens to what you’re looking for and they can point you in the right direction for you.  Ellis Team agents listen and are experts at finding what you want.  Give us a call at 239-489-4042 and we’ll be happy to sit down and discuss the market and homes that may interest you.

If you’re not ready to meet just yet, that’s fine too.  Simply search away at www.LeeCountyOnline.com and let us know when something catches your eye.  You might not be ready today, but someday you will be, and this site is perfect for those who want to see what’s out there and what is possible.

Good luck and Happy House Hunting!

Open House This Saturday 1-4 PM

2110 SW 13th St, Cape Coral FL

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Inventory by Price Range

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Last week we focused on the overall State of the Lee County real estate market, and this week we’ll continue with that theme, but zero in a little bit on how certain price ranges are doing. 

Much of our inventory has decreased in the last year as buyers have been scooping up properties faster than the system can bring them to the market. This is the reason inventory levels in certain price ranges have shifted to a seller’s market.  Last year at this time inventory level in the 0-$100k range was 20.26 months.  Today that number is down to 4.23 months.  Last year we talked about market equilibrium being somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-9 months.  6 Months seems about right to us.  As you can see, this price range has fallen from nearly 2 years to less than 6 months illustrating it has swung from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market. 

 

Home Inventory by Price Range 2009
Home Inventory by Price Range 2009

Buyers many times read national headlines and don’t realize they’re competing with other buyers for the best properties, and most of these properties are on the market only a few short days.  Practically any property in the 0-$100k range will have multiple offers and sell at or above asking price.  In fact, last year 8,051 single family homes sold at or above asking price.  That’s simply an amazing statistic. 

The next hot price range is of course $100-200k. Last year we had 12.06 months supply of inventory.  This was the hottest price range last year, and it’s still hot this year.  Today it stands at 6.23 months, almost half of last year.  As you can see, the 0-$200k range is on fire.  Last year we had a lot of Canadians coming down and buying properties in SW Florida.  In the 2nd half of 2009 we noticed more interest from Americans from up north, and this season we’re already seeing many baby boomers arriving and seeking out their piece of paradise.  Combining that with the brutal winter our northern friends are experiencing and we think this season stands a chance to eat into the $200k+ price ranges going forward. 

Last year the $200-300k range stood at 15.33 months, and this year it’s down to 10.03 months.  The $300-400k range last year stood at 18.05 and this year it’s at 15.65, so its better, but the changes aren’t improving as much the higher we go.  The $400-500k range improved by 3 months, down from 24.17 last year to 21.3 this year. 

What’s interesting to look at in this hot market is the $500-1 Million price range, and the $1million+ range.  Inventory levels actually went up in both ranges, and up dramatically in the $1 million price range.  This suggests to us a few things.  Sellers in the higher ends of the market have held out longer than most as the affluent have had the means to ride out a poor economy longer.  However, the drag on the economy may be catching up even to the highest of income earners.  Secondly, there are fewer buyers in the higher ranges, with lots of inventory to choose from. 

To put this in perspective, in the 0-$100k range, there are 3,530 active listings on the market, but there were 10,021 sales last year in that range.  In the $1 Million+ range there are 697 active listings, but only 124 sales all last year. 

Top end sellers may “Need” more out of their home, but as we’ve seen with the foreclosure crisis, what a seller needs is irrelevant to what buyers will pay.  Higher end sellers may not qualify for a short sale because they have other assets, so they may not be motivated to take losses and are testing the market.  Oh, they surely may wish to sell, but not motivated to sell where the buyers are.  Affluent sellers may have the ability to wait the market out longer, even if a property is draining them financially. 

So, $500k+ buyers are in the driver’s seat and can buy the best value properties, and buyers in the lower price ranges are competing against each other to snap up today’s lower prices.  Prices across the county have begun to rise, and buyers are responding by studying the market and moving off the fence.  2010 should be an exciting year to watch.  Download the entire 2010 State of the Market Report free at http://www.topagent.com/

What Are Buyers Looking For Today?

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We’ve been compiling our annual State of the Market Report which will be released soon and this year more than any other some interesting trends are developing.  Full time agents tend to get caught up in the deals they’re working on and could miss some of the major trends developing in the overall market.  It is always so interesting to analyze the overall Lee County real estate market, and then dissect down to the smaller sub-markets and see what story the data conveys. 

This past week I asked several full time agents who work with a lot of buyers if they could tell me what they’re seeing on a day to day basis.  I then compared what they said with the data we’re compiling to see what they story is. 

A few themes developed from their stories.  The first theme is many buyers have heard Florida is on sale, so they come down here with unrealistic expectations about what they can buy.  Agents are receiving unrealistic requests for things like gulf front homes or condominiums 1 block from the beach with a garage, built in the 2000’s for $100,000 or less, or waterfront gulf access homes, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, built in the 2000’s for $150,000 or less.  The stories go on and on.

 

Year End Prices 1993-2009
Year End Prices 1993-2009

Many buyers want to look at bank foreclosures, but they don’t want to do any work if it needs repair.  They expect all homes should sell at the bank foreclosure prices regardless of whether they need work or not.  Many buyers feel the foreclosures set the prices in the neighborhood even though they may be missing a kitchen and needs tens of thousands in work.  Buyers are quite often dissatisfied with the condition of the distressed properties, but they don’t want to look at a regular home that is all fixed up because it is not a perceived bargain. 

You could take two identical homes next door to each other, one being a foreclosure and needing $15,000 in repairs and another being a normal sale and in excellent condition.  The bank foreclosure might be priced $15,000 below the normal home, but when the buyer sees it they’re turned off.  They’re also turned off by the price of the normal home because they feel it should be priced $15,000 lower.  Many times there is a reason a foreclosure is less money.  It takes money to fix them up, not to mention time and effort.  Not everybody wants to do that. 

Another theme is buyers have no idea homes are selling as quickly as they are.  Many buyers are looking around and because there is some inventory believe they have time.  Many are not motivated to pull the trigger because they believe that home, or one just like it will be on the market in 6 months or next year.  Buyers do not believe these homes are receiving multiple offers and being scooped up by investors who can actually cash flow them at these low prices. 

The emotional buyers are seeing fault with the homes and are afraid to buy.  The studious investor is beating the regular buyers to the punch because they know these homes will be selling for more in the future, and they can actually rent them out and make more return on their money than other investment vehicles.  These homes make financial sense to investors on both ends of the spectrum. 

The regular buyer is operating out of fear and lack of knowledge about the local market.  After they miss out on several properties to higher bidders it becomes apparent to them this market is much more active than they actually thought. 

The SW Florida real estate market is on sale, but it’s the old herd mentality buyers follow.  Buyers tend to be most motivated when everyone else is buying, usually at the height of the market.  It’s true in the stock market, and real estate market.  Back in 2004 and 2005 people couldn’t buy fast enough, sometimes buying groups of homes.  Would you say buying a home back in 2005 was a better investment than buying one in 2010?  And yet the motivations were higher back in 2005 because people weren’t afraid, when they should have been.  2010 is a far greater opportunity, and the people who study the market realize it. 

Later this week we hope to release our State of the Market Report at www.Topagent.com  so you can analyze what properties are selling the best right now, analyze where the inventory is, and what prices are doing on a monthly basis.  Being informed will help you make a better buying or selling decision.  It makes no sense to miss out on opportunities because of lack of local market knowledge just as it makes little sense to overpay, or list at the wrong price either.  If you list too high your property won’t sell, and if you list too low you’ll be giving equity away to someone else who is more informed than you.