Fort Myers Florida Weekly

Lee County market tracks positive in September


RIGHT: The numbers reported represent sales by all members of Florida Realtors/ SWFLA Matrix for Lee County.

The numbers reported represent sales by all members of Florida Realtors/ SWFLA Matrix for Lee County.

Lee County’s housing market has remained in an upswing, according to the latest statistics from Florida Realtors. “In September 2017, Florida’s housing sector and overall economy were impacted by both pre-hurricane preparations and the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Irma,” said Christine Hansen, president. “In looking at this year’s September data, you have to keep that factor in mind for comparison purposes.”

Year-over-year, sales increased for single-family homes, townhouses and condos. Last month, there was a 31.9 percent increase in the number of closed sales for single-family homes, and a 24 percent increase for townhouses and condos, compared with the same time last year. Median sale prices were also up slightly for both, as well as the number of active listings.

Properties also spent less median time to contract in September, with single-family homes spending 51 days, a 28.2 percent decrease from 2017. However, townhouses and condos saw a 25.9 percent increase in days on the market.

Produced by Florida Realtors® with data provided by Florida’s multiple listing services.

Produced by Florida Realtors® with data provided by Florida’s multiple listing services.

Fort Myers Beach saw a 200 percent increase in houses sold over 2017 and Sanibel/Captiva had a 42.9 percent jump in closed sales of single family homes, according to the statistics. Sanibel/Captiva also saw an increase in median price from $660,000 in 2017 to $825,000 in 2018. Another growth area was Lehigh Acres, up 66.3 percent for closed single-family homes, and all other cities saw an upward increase.

When looking at closed sales by price point, for single-family homes, the numbers for all price ranges between $200,000-$ million-plus increased. For condos and townhouses, the largest jump was in the $400,000-$999,999 range, which saw an increase of 93.3 percent and $1 million-plus increased by 50 percent.

“Fortunately, the year-over-year changes reported for most of Florida Realtors other metrics — like median price — were not as significantly skewed by the impact of Hurricane Irma,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Brad O’Connor. “And, while we have seen some national media reports from Lee County due to water quality, for the most part it has not dimmed the positive growth the market achieved over the past year.”

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