April existing home sales more than double last year

There were more than twice as many homes sold in Lee County in April compared to April last year, according to a report by the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc. Last month, 1,406 existing singlefamily homes sold, compared to 684 in April 2008. Pending sales improved 60.2 percent year to year, with 2,368 single-family homes pending versus 1,478 a year ago. As of the end of April, Lee County has exceeded sales for all of 2007.

The median price of existing single family homes was just $80,000 — down from $180,000 in April 2008 — and continues to be affected by the abundance of REO or bank-owned properties in the market — in April, REOs represented 65.9 percent of all single-family homes sold in Lee County. However, many of these properties are selling for more than the list price. There appear to be two prevailing reasons for this: many of today's buyers are qualifying for FHA and VA loans, allowing for closing cost assistance and there is more competition for these homes as multiple offers are being submitted on bank-owned properties.

"This is causing buyers to make their highest and best offer when they find the home they want," said Suzanne Sherer, association president. "As listings shrink and sales prices move above the listing price, this indicates that our market is starting its recovery. This should be very welcome news to sellers out there. Priced-right homes are selling quickly."

Also of significance is the drop in the number of single-family homes listed on the MLS. At the end of April, there were 8,665 active listings of existing single-family residential properties compared to 12,324 a year ago, a decline of 29.7 percent.