April 20, 2009
April 12, 2009
Prices move upward
Single Family home sales in Cape Coral continue to sky rocket upward. No one can tell when we are at the bottom, we can only know the bottom once we past it. Based on sales and pricing data, I see the bottom of the single family Cape Coral market as being Feb. 1, 2009. As an example, you could have bought an 1800 square foot home, 2004-2007 for $75,000 in the beginning of Feb. Now, these homes are selling in the mid $90's. Sales of single family homes have increased to 646 closings in March 2009. The chart below shows the closing activity. The supply of homes has dropped from 4649 Jan 3rd to 2944 on March 12th.
March 17, 2009
March 03, 2009
BEWARE CHINESE DRYWALL!
Houses built in the years of the construction boom, and homes that needed repair during hurricane Charlie are prone to having Chinese Drywall used in them. Any home built 2004 and newer SHOULD be checked for Chinese Drywall. Houses built 2002 and 2003 might have the defective drywall because the drywall was allegedly in Florida in 2001.
Chinese Drywall off gasses hydrogen sulfide, which coats metals with a black residue. This gives off a very distinctive smell, which resembles burnt matches. This black residue has caused new AC units to fail within 2 years. This may also become a fire hazard. Health effects to exposure to Chinese Drywall are unknown. Below are photos of what to look for when looking for evidence of Chinese Drywall:
Brought to you by the South West Florida Fort Myers Cape Coral Real Estate Blog
February 24, 2009
January 18, 2009
All Aboard!
When folks ask me how the real estate market is doing in Cape Coral, they ask the question with the expression on their face as if they are asking about a relative who is terminally ill. Before I can answer, they may throw in that they feel so horrible about my situation in trying to survive. It is amazing how the mass media can completely sell an idea about our "bad" market, and it shows that bad news sells. I haven’t seen a positive news article written recently, except for Denny Grimes who does a tremendous job analyzing this market. When I tell folks the truth, about how the demand has tripled over the last 6 months, and I need an extra 75 hours in a day to get my work done, they look at me as if I am the biggest fibber in the world. However, you can not argue with the facts. The chart below shows the amount of sales in Cape Coral over the last 2 years. In 2007, we averaged 178 homes sales per month, in 2008, we averaged 363 homes sales per month. In the last 6 months, since July 1st, we have averaged 441 home sales per month, and this is during the "off-season". The increase in homes sold is due to the fact that prices have plummeted, as a result of the amount of foreclosures coming onto the market. The foreclosures will continue to come onto the market, however, when that foreclosure spicket is turned off, don't be the last one standing waiting for the bargain train. The overall amount of homes on the market has been steadily declining, even with the amount of foreclosures coming on to the market, over the last year. Last year we started off with over 5200, now there are 3904 homes on the market. We all know what happens in any market where the demand goes up, and the supply goes down. Get on the train, and take a seat, you don’t want to be chasing that train as it speeds off.
Brought to you by the South West Florida Fort Myers Cape Coral Real Estate Blog
December 22, 2008
December 05, 2008
Foreclosures Filed Down in November
Foreclosures in Lee County were down in November to 1,681 filed, compared with a record number 2,665 in October.
