Cape Coral – Fort Myers Homes Rise 14%

Cape Coral Real Estate and Fort Myers Real Estate Top the Nation in Gains

As Cape Coral – Fort Myers goes, so goes the real estate market? Southwest Florida, in particular the twin cities of Cape Coral and Fort Myers home markets, was the first to boom in the early 2000’s, the first to bust in the mid 2000’s and now in the twenty-teens the first to climb back into a recovering, healthy market. We’ve said it a thousand times and will say it again: all real estate is local. What is happening in Las Vegas, Seattle, or Destin is far different from the price points, inventory, and selling trends here in Southwest Florida.

Prices are still ridiculously cheap compared to the boom times the first part of this century, but there are no more declines and there are far fewer distressed properties on the market. Inventory is dramatically reduced, home builders are buying up land and building again, and the commercial market in Cape Coral is seeing gains as well. All of this is leading to incremental price increases indicative of a healthy, growing market (but not booming, thankfully) that is win-win for both buyer and seller.

This graph that we posted in 2006 has born true: at the time, we could not predict when the rational growth would emerge, but now it’s crystal clear that we are in that rational growth phase.

Here are the best, and worst, performing cities as reported by the AP and Trulia. Six out of the top ten are in Florida and none of the bottom ten are in Florida:

1. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.: 14.8%
2. Miami: 14.1%
3. Phoenix: 13.2%
4. Pittsburgh: 9.2%
5. Little Rock, Ark.: 6.7%
6. Orlando: 6.3%
7. North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla.: 6.2%
8. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.: 6.1%
9. West Palm Beach, Fla.: 5.8%
10. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.: 5.6%

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1. Tacoma, Wash.: -11.9%
2. Seattle: -9.1%
3. Sacramento, Calif.: -8.3%
4. Las Vegas: -7.7%
5. Wilmington, Del.: -7.7%
6. Columbia, S.C.: -7.3%
7. Cleveland: -6.9%
8. Fresno, Calif.: -6.8%
9. Milwaukee: -6.7%
10. Allentown, Pa.: -6.7%