Home sales continue to rise in Lee County

The Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, Inc. reported that its members sold 1,586 homes in June, a 121 percent increase from June of last year.

However, more than half of the sales, 56.5 percent, were bank-owned, 15.5 percent were short sales and the remaining "traditional" sales made up 23.9 percent.

In addition to an increase in existing home sales in the Greater Fort Myers area, the number of homes currently available for purchase through the MLS has dramatically decreased. There are 7,239 single-family homes currently listed in the Multiple Listing Service. That is 5,009 (40.9 percent) less than this time last year. This inventory level, the report said, reflects a 3.5-month supply at the current pace of sales, which is down significantly from the 8.9-month supply recorded in June of last year.

Bank-owned and short sale home sales have had a dramatic influence on the area's reported median price. The median price of all homes sold in June was $83,000 (a 47.5 percent decrease compared to June 2008); however, year-todate, the median price for "traditional" sales is $175,000, $69,000 for bank-owned properties and $105,000 for short sales.

"Distressed homes have definitely influenced our pricing in the current market," said association President Suzanne Sherer. "If at-risk homeowners can keep their homes, and banks work more closely with Realtors to process short sales, we might finally see some relief to the foreclosure crisis here in Southwest Florida. Instead, lenders are turning down homebuyers using financing in favor of all-cash deals from investors because they unfold faster as the value of the property does not have to match the sales price. This does not bode well for stabilizing our housing market."

For information, visit www.FloridaGulfcoastHomesLive. com, the Association's Web site for searching a comprehensive database of available properties in Southwest Florida by geographic location, price range or both.