We have just made it thru the first quarter of 2013 and we are seeing solid evidence that our local real estate market is well on its way to being the best year for the housing market in over 7 years. While challenges still remain, like getting lenders to make loans a little easier to obtain, we are seeing good numbers in the housing sector here in Lee County. …continue
Excerpts taken from Berge Aslanian, and his “Real Estate Trends” article with the Chamber of Commerce. Berge is a 7 year Re/Max Island Harbor Realtor, in Cape Coral.
Everyone knows that in a market with prices going down……..you tighten your financial belt and wait out the storm. Does that also mean that in an “up Trending” market the opposite is true? Perhaps Yes!
In December 2012 there were 202 Cape Coral homes sold, with an average sales price of $144,000. In February 2013 there were 231 Cape Coral homes sold with an average sales price of $155,000.
In December 2012 there were 21 Cape Coral condo’s sold with an average sales price of $100,500. In February 2013, there were 36 Cape Coral condo’s sold with an average sales price of $106,000. …continue
With the current inventory levels of resale homes at an all time low in MLS, there becomes a strong need for new construction product to enter the market. Currently there are about 1500 homes in the Cape Coral market and around 3500 in the Fort Myers market. These are the lowest number we have seen in years. Beside the low inventory, property conditions of these homes is not always what a picky buyer is willing to settle for in their purchase.
When considering building your “Dream” home, you need to know the questions and criteria to ask when select a builder, in your target price range.
Here are the key steps:
Here is where the search begins. Get out and visit the model homes and especially the new trend of Design Centers that are cropping up. The model homes are a great place to get ideas and a place to start on your wish list of things you want in your future ”Dream” home. You will need to carry a wire bound notebook for jotting down notes and ideas….dont rely simply on the builders literature. You will meet the builders sales people in the models, and probably not meet the actual builder till your fairly certain of your direction. The Design Centers are specifically for options and features. They offer a variety of flooring….cabinets…faucets…colors…counter tops…etc. for your note book. Most of the custom builders offer Design Centers, since they know the importance of offering options and upgrades. …continue
Building contractors in Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, Lehigh Acres, and Bonita Springs pulled 55 single family home building permits in September. In dollar terms, that equals $15.3 million in collective value. August had 41 permits pulled and for the same month of September, 2011 only 27 building permits were issued.
In these same areas, 18 permits were pulled for multi-family construction, compared to 29 the month before in August. September 2011, showed an amazing 74 multi-family permits issued.
I don’t have the breakdown by individual city or geographical area, but I was impressed when I did some digging, that Lehigh Acres actually had the most permits pulled for each of the 2 categories. …continue
Existing home sales jumped 7.8% in the U.S. in August for over 4.8 million dollars in value!!
That data is the very best we have seen in the market since May of 2010……..when sales were fueled largely by Federal Home buying Tax credit. At the same time, this new report indicated that the housing market was 9.4% better than the same month in 2011. That is a significant increase in just 1 year.
These figures were just released by the government 2 days ago, and certainly shows that the housing market is leading the way toward economic recovery in this country.
Here is an interesting statistic contained in the report……..Foreclosures accounted for only 12% of the August sales and Short Sales only accounted for only 10% of the sales. This is a leading indicator, that the huge supposedly “Ghost” inventory of foreclosure inventory soon to bombard the market……..really does not exist. It has long been my opinion that lenders and banks are holding onto assets and plan to rent them out thru local property management companies, to obtain and maintain an income stream. With an increase in home sale prices we have witnessed during the first half of this year, equity positions for homeowners has begun to creep back into the mix. …continue