Cape Coral Real Estate Brokerage | SW FL Property

The Lee County Florida housing market is on a positive trend. Whether you are a first time home buyer or you are looking to purchase a second home, the largest increase in sales is mainly from buyers taking advantage of the lower pricing and abundance of homes in Lee County to choose from.

With the average Lee County home sitting on the market for upwards of 120 days, buyers have the upper hand in negotiating final pricing that is around 90% of the already low asking price. Lee County, with its world-class beaches, including Sanibel and Captiva Island, Bonita and Ft. Myers Beach, its international airport with direct flights to and from Europe, as well as its exceptional university located just south of Ft. Myers makes purchasing a home even more enticing.

We are getting a lot of potential home owners inquiring about the bank owned properties in our area. Accordingly, the bank-owned properties continue to impact our sales and closings.  Since June of last year, 66% of all single family homes sold listed in the MLS were bank-owned; of these 64% were cash deals, according to the REALTOR® Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, Inc.

Home sales continue to rise in our area and in June there were 1,586 homes sold, which is a 121% increase from June 2008. Again, this is an indication that the Lee County housing market is on a positive trend and possibly on a more upward spiral. In addition to the always warm climate and pristine beaches, Lee County offers a relaxing lifestyle which has consistently attracted second homeowners and vacationers, a government which is business friendly, accessible beachfront or canal front properties and median home prices 50% below the national average. For example, the REALTOR® Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, Inc. states that in June the median price for all homes was around $83,000. To date, the median price for "traditional" sales is $175,000. For the available bank-owned homes the median price is $69,000 and $105,000 for short sales.

According to the Lee County Economic Development, Ft. Myers, Cape Coral and surrounding areas have acquired the reputation as being some of the best places to live, vacation or own a second home. With that in mind, the potential buyers we are seeing are "market watching" which means they are seeing the growth in our area and are getting more excited about purchasing a home at an affordable price in an area that is economically stabilizing at a steady pace. Additionally, our office is seeing more and more banks working closely with us to process short sales which coincide with the stabilizing market.

With the steady and consistent economic growth, the affordable and abundant homes available to buyers, the consideration of the banks and lenders; it is only likely that Lee County will stay on the positive trend, steady pace and rising swing we are experiencing now. For more information on bank owned properties, short-sales, foreclosures and traditional home buying please contact one of our team members at 239-542-8521 or search for Cape Coral real estate online now!

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