Driven by foreclosures, sales of single-family homes in Lee County this year have already blasted past the record set at the height of the buying frenzy in 2005.
And sales of all residential properties in the county this year will set a record once the September figures are released next week.
Through August, the last month for which data is available, 11,178 homes were sold with the assistance of Realtors, according to statistics from the Realtors Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach.
That’s well past the 9,842 for all of 2005, the previous high-water mark.
At the present pace, it would take about five months to run through the roughly 11,000 single-family homes listed for sale, according to association statistics.
If anything, the numbers understate the current pace of sales, said Jeff Tumbarello of Steelbridge Realty
Partners, noting that more than 300 foreclosed houses a month are being sold at county auctions on the courthouse steps.
Suzanne Sherer of Re/Max Realty Team, who is president of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach, said the houses are selling so fast because “the prices are in line with incomes in the area.”
There are even bidding wars for some houses that are up for sale, and buyers should be aware they might have to offer more than the listing price, she said.
“Any buyer in today’s market, if they see a house and it’s $20,000 less than everything else, other buyers do, too,” Sherer said.
Driving the supply of inexpensive houses is a record number of foreclosures, with lenders still filing more than 1,600 a month, although the pace has slowed in recent months.
Still, some of the most desirable types of houses have stabilized and even increased in price.
“At this time last year you could buy a sailboat-access house that needs some work for $150,000 or $200,000 in Cape Coral,” Tumbarello said. “Now they’re $250,000.”
Kenny and Kate Champagne bought a foreclosed southwest Cape Coral home in August for $261,000, according to the Lee County Property Appraiser site.
The three-bedroom, 21⁄2-bath home has a caged pool and a boat dock with a lift.
“It’s got all the things we looked for, and then some,” said Kenny Champagne, 52, a customer service representative for Southwest Airlines who went home-shopping with Century 21 Sunbelt Realty.
Dwight Bessette, 68, moved from Princeton, N.J., to Fort Myers in June.
The retired salesman visited a few areas of Florida in February, settling on Lee County.
He paid $138,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bath home at Colonial Country Club. The home sold for $224,600 in September 2005, according to the Lee County Property Appraiser site.
“I got such a good deal on what I really wanted in Fort Myers,” Bessette said. “It was the clear choice for me, given what I was looking for and what I wanted to spend.”
By DICK HOGAN • dhogan@news-press.com • October 3, 2009
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