March 2023 Market Update

Cape Coral & Fort Myers Market Update

March 2023

 Click here to watch Mike's Lee County Market Update, a review of what happened in the real estate market in March 2023!

Sold Homes Statistics

According to the Royal Palm Board of Realtors in Cape Coral, 357 single family homes and 45 condos sold in the month of February in comparison to February last year, when 607 single family homes and 65 condos were sold. This shows us that there has been a 41% decrease in the number of single family homes sold in Cape Coral between now and then, and 31% decrease in the number of condos sold in Fort Myers during the month of February, 169 single family and 195 condos sold in comparison to February last year, when 189 single family homes and 249 condos sold. This shows us there's been an 11% decrease in the number of single family homes sold and a 22% decrease in the number of condos sold.

Active Homes Statistics

 

Now let's move on and discuss the number of active listings in Cape Coral. By the end of February, there was 1356 active single family homes and 232 active condos. Last year at this time, there was 460 single family, single family homes and 44 condos listed. In Fort Myers, there was 388 single family homes and 537 condos in comparison to last year, there was 134 single family homes and 103 condos. As you can see, the number of active homes in Lee County has actually increased by an average of 50% and we've shifted from a seller's market just a year ago to where we only had a couple of weeks of inventory to a neutral market with a four month supply. This shift has also led to longer days on the market for nearly all homes. Fort Myers, the average days on the market for February is 16, whereas last February it was six. And in Cape Coral, the average days on the market is 32, last year was just six. This is an average increase of 71.5%. 

 

Price Trending Statistics

 

Before we discuss why, let's look at the prices of homes in Cape Coral and Fort Myers, and to give you an idea, Cape Coral, the average sale price for a single family home in February of 2023 was approximately $420,000. A year ago, that was $401,000. That's a 5% increase in terms of Cape Coral condos, the average sale price in February was of 2023 was 294,900, and a year ago was 268,500, an increase of 9%. Moving into Fort Myers, the average sale price of a single family home in February 2023 was 455,000, as wherein February 22 it was 430,000, an increase of 5.5%. And condos went from 300,000. This February, it was only 273,000 last year, an increase of nearly 9%.

 

So the bottom line is, as the statistics show, there are more homes for buyers to choose from. Fewer home sales are occurring, homes are taking longer to sell, but home prices are actually up year over year. Now that you've seen what's happening in the market in the last month, let's take a look at some of the other factors in the real estate market. 

 

Mortgage Rates

First, let's look at interest rates. According to Freddie Mac, a 30 year fixed rate loan right now is 6.5% percent. What this means is buyers purchasing power has decreased as the interest rates rose. Home buyers that are able to afford now less home, which means they will definitely have longer days on the market for the homes that are up for sale. This has caused the market to shift from a seller's market, where sellers dictated pricing, to where we now have a neutral market. And if it continues to stay a neutral market, which is about a four month supply of homes, prices will remain steady.

Hurricane Ian and the FEMA Rule

As we continue to pick up the pieces from Hurricane Ian, severely impacted homeowners are considering whether to rebuild their homes or sell as is. One of the main factors that is impacting this decision is the FEMA rule. This rule states homeowners are able to repair or remodel their structure for up to only 50% of the assessed value of their home. And that's just the structure. So if your home is worth $500,000 the structure and you could repair it up to 250,000, this doesn't apply. Of course, if you tear down the property and build a new home, we are, as a result of all this, seeing an influx of investors who are looking for these homes to buy and renovate or to tear down and build new.

 

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