Happy Spring!  It’s a great time of year: the airport is busy, hotels and restaurants are full, trees are blooming, and there’s lots of fresh Florida produce to enjoy. We are lucky to have a notable increase in visitors, from the North, from Canada, and Europe.

What’s really exciting is the fact that our real estate market is booming! SW Florida is leading the recovery and signs of stabilization are everywhere. Lots of new homes are being built. We’re seeing luxury homes and starter homes, too, rising from formerly vacant lots.

All of this can be seen in our most recent real estate sales statistics. Starting with vacant land, the sales prices of residential lots is up 40% from February of 2011. Now, the average price paid for a residential lot is up almost $10,000 from the previous year. I’ve always felt that movement the vacant land sales would be a great indicator of a firm recovery. As buyers have consumed residential housing inventory, builders and investors are purchasing land inventory.

In single family home sales, we’ve seen an 11% increase in average sales price and a 20% increase in median sale price.   There are an extremely few number of homes available in the “under $100,000” price range, although Rob and I took 2 new listings last week. Click here for more information on those properties: TWO GREAT HOMES FOR UNDER $100,000  We have been working with buyers seeking gulf-access homes and, in the under $200,000 price range for 3 bedroom homes with 2-car garage, there were only 14 properties left when I checked the other day.

Our property management department is seeking new properties for our rental portfolio. If you have been thinking of another way of earning money outside of the stock market, rental income property can be a great avenue. Give us a call and we will help you choose the property, arrange maintenance and services, secure the tenant, and send you the earnings!

Search for your dream home or investment property at www.floridamoves.com/susanball.  We look forward to hearing from you soon.

If you follow me on Twitter (@SusanBCapeCoral), you’ve seen some of my recent posts about our local real estate market. In fact, yesterday, I posted about an article which lists Cape Coral/Ft. Myers as the #1 Real Estate Market in the USA! (see 5 Best Housing Markets in US) The good news continues, as our unemployment rate is dropping and we are seeing a reduction in single-family home inventory. If you drive around our city, you will also see many NEW HOMES being constructed. As a result of the lower inventory, residential land sales are up. Savvy investors and home builders are snapping up this inventory.

We have many quality homes, condos and lots in our inventory. Feel free to browse and search and let us know if you have questions or would like more information. Search Florida Homes, Condos and Lots

Here’s an excerpt from the newsletter of the President of the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce, regarding our real estate market in Cape Coral, FL:

“Dear Member,

Recently I was emailed me the Cape Coral Market Snapshot for real estate activity.  Being kind of an analytical geek (training received at Keiser University), I looked at sales activity for single family residential, comparing the twelve months from 2010 to 2011.  I was kind of shocked when I discovered that residential sales for 2010, were 5,527 units, and for 2011, they were only 4,897 units, a reduction of 12%.  At first blush I was thinking, “This is not good”.  We want more people buying homes and transferring wealth to Cape Coral.

Next, for grins, I looked at condo sales comparing 2010 with 2011.  Condo sales for 2010 were 487, and for 2011, Cape Coral had 546 transactions, an increase in activity of 12%.  Okay, so I am scratching my head, and I open the tab for lot sales.  In 2010, Cape Coral sold 1,817 lots, and in 2011, we sold 2,239 lots, which was a 23% increase in activity.

Ah-Hah Moment, so as single family residential sales inventory diminishes, the cost goes of single family homes goes up, about 20% over 2010.  As the single family home inventory diminishes and the cost of single family homes goes up, it is less attractive to purchase existing homes in certain price ranges therefore; purchasing a lot and building a new home become a more practical decision.

As we know historically, our local economy is cyclical, and very dependent on real estate and construction.  I would suggest that these real estate activity numbers are indicating an uptick in our economy.  Our local economy appears to be gaining some significant momentum, as it struggles to meet some pent up retirement housing demand.

In the Welcome Center, we are being inundated with visitors who have visited us in previous years and were waiting for the housing market to hit bottom.  Folks, I contend, not only have we hit bottom, but we are bouncing back rather strongly.  Funny thing about hitting peaks and valleys, you never know exactly where they are until they are behind you.  Happy New Year, things are looking brighter!

Mike “Q” Quaintance, President”

Great 3 BR 2 BA plus 2 Car Garage, on lake and golf course!

The BEST community for “55 and Better” residents in SW Florida! We sold this BRAND NEW 3 BR, 2BA, 2 car garage home for LESS than a resale! Call me for information about Pelican Preserve condos, single family homes and villas. 27-hole golf course (non-equity membership), community center, and lots of fun!

Call us for information about new construction and resales in this great community. I highly recommend it for year-round and seasonal residents!