Area home sales take a giant leap in May

Southwest Floridians have reason to feel encouraged by the real estate market.

Since the start of the year, sales figures for existing single-family homes show the market continues to gain momentum, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, Inc.

"What we're seeing is a lot more activity in the market," said Doreen Herring, communications and marketing director of the Realtor Association.

May sales (719) of existing single-family homes represented a 61.9 percent increase over those in May 2007, the Association reported, and pending sales increased by 76.9 percent.

Initial MLS figures for May show the number of sales for existing single-family home in Cape Coral was up 98 percent over May 2007, said Tom Gunkelman, broker manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Cape Coral.

One of the reasons for the swift movement is the drop in price.

"People who have lived and worked in Lee County, who were sort of priced out of the market, can live here now," Herring said.

The median price for a single-family home in May was $185,900 in Lee County, while Gunkelman said the median price for a Cape home was $154,500.

The average price of an existing singlefamily home in the Cape was $210,177 in May, compared with $318,911 during May of last year, said Gunkelman, who tracks prices long term. He added that the April 2008 "prices are comparable to what people were buying in the second half of 2003 (July to December)."

Buyers are getting much more than a better price, too. Pending sales in May of Cape's existing construction averaged 1,800 square feet, he said. "That's not a small house. What the buyer is buying is so much more house today," he said.

Because of the large inventory, buyers can be selective. Experts said they are carefully examining price, location, size and condition of the home and walking away with the best deals. "There's much better value today than there was a year or two ago," Gunkelman said.

Gunkelman said 21 properties sold for more than $500,000 in May, the largest number closed in that price range in one month during the past year.

The recent activity is making a dent in the inventory. The absorption rate, or the number of months of inventory, for singlefamily homes is about eight months now, the Realtor Association said, as opposed to almost 23 months in December.

Cape figures reflect a notable decrease as well. The absorption rate for singlefamily homes in April was 13.80 months, down from the 26.87 months in April 2007, according to Gunkelman. In addition, the absorption rate for multi-family housing (condos and townhouses) was 24.51 months, compared with 42.29, he said, and the rate for vacant land was 48.64 months, down from 104.80.

Buyers have been all types: first-time homeowners; investors; transplants from stateside and abroad, including Canada, Europe and South America; and those approaching retirement.