Real Estate Opportunities Coming In HOT in Florida!
Edited by Ashley McCrea
The real estate market is a bit of a roller coaster right now, especially here in Southwest Florida. But
there’s no need to worry. This article will explain all the changes that have been happening recently and
what they mean for buyers and sellers alike.
How Has This Much Change Been Happening?
A lot changes in a year, there’s no question about that. We’ve had inflation concerns, rising mortgage
rates, and a hurricane.
Overall, the closed sales in Southwest Florida have been decreasing. For example, in Collier
County, closed sales are down 27% compared to last year. In Lee County, they’re down 47%. However,
the median price of homes has been rising. For Collier County, the median price of homes was around
$725,000 last month, but this month they are around $800,000. That’s a 10% increase. Lee County is
seeing a similar trend, with selling prices up 23%.
So why are prices going up but sales are going down? The answer lies in supply and demand.
After Hurricane Ian, many homes were destroyed or damaged, meaning that there were fewer homes
available to purchase. There was a simultaneous increase in demand as people were displaced from their
homes and needed a place to live. The question now is if these pricing trends will continue or if they will
go back to what they were pre-hurricane.
What Else Has Been Changing?
Another big change is the number of days homes stay on the market before they are purchased. In
Collier County, for example, homes stayed on the market for an average of 45 days. This has increased by
around 165% year after year. In Lee County as well, homes stayed on the market for about 25 days, with
a 107% increase yearly.
In those days, in late 2021 and early 2022, the homes listed would get multiple offers above the
asking price. We aren’t seeing that anymore. Homes are again staying on the market for the amount of
time they were before then, and the length of time on the market only increases the higher the price of the
home.
The number of listings has also been decreasing. In Collier County, there are 526 listings at the
time this article was written, and in Lee County, there are 908. Both of these areas are seeing fewer
listings, with the number of listings down 6% in Collier County and a whopping 46% in Lee County
compared to last year. Pending inventories are down too, with 599 homes in inventory in Collier County
(a 42% decrease) and 658 homes in inventory in Lee County (a 36% decrease). This means that our
closings will be down, with this trend is set to continue into the future.
Bad News for the Economy
Over the past year, there has been less money entering the economy. In Collier County, $467
million have changed hands within the real estate market in the last year, which is a 3% decrease, but in
Lee County, $385 million changed hands at a 44% decrease. The discrepancy in these two decreases is
due to the hurricane, as Lee County was hit much harder than Collier County. Many people were also
unable to sell their properties due to open insurance claims, which blocked new buyers from taking out
insurance on the property.
Good News For Buyers
We’ve seen recent stability and improvement in interest rates, and the FED is talking about not
raising the federal fund rates at the same rate they were before. If you’re looking to buy but you didn’t
want to take risks with the high and unstable interest rates of the past year, you may want to reconsider
entering the market now.
Other factors in the market have often shifted in favor of the buyer with price reductions, sellers
giving seller credits (which, by the way, have not existed in a long time), and home builders offering
incentives to buyers (which hasn’t happened in an even longer amount of time). This is all happening
because of the lack of inventory, which has challenged buyers recently.
However, this may change soon. Four months of inventory is considered equilibrium, where the
market does not favour buyers over sellers or vice versa. In some places, such as Lee County, the amount
of inventory is steadily rising, with 2.6 months of inventory at a 116% increase. This still favours buyers,
but we are getting to a point where the market faces equilibrium for the first time in a while.
If you are considering selling and want to get an idea of what your Florida home is worth, send an email to info@gulfpointeproperties.com. If you’re looking to purchase in the area, you can get a jumpstart by filling out your home wish list here: https://forms.gle/B91pjBStQbEnUCBPA
📲 Thank you for your support! We have so many people contacting us who are moving here to Naples & Fort Myers, and we ABSOLUTELY love it! If you are moving or relocating here to Southwest Florida, my team and I can make that transition so much easier on you.
Reach out…we’re here for you!
Brad Dohack, Broker/Owner at Gulf Pointe Properties, Team Lead
📲 Call/Text Direct at (239) 734-7723
📲 Email: info@gulfpointeproperties.com
👨💻 Website: https://www.homesearchinswflorida.com/
