Posted by Michael Stein on Tue, Oct 13, 2009 @ 03:58 PM
The Naples Daily News reports that
Fort Myers 2009 home resales for the nine months ending September are up 120%
over the same period during 2008. While
this is a positive trend in healing a battered real estate market there is some
bad news associated with the increase in volume. According to the article, of the 1185 homes
sold in September 2009, a whopping 70% of the transactions were either short
sales or bank owned. Moreover, the sale
of these distressed assets is depressing the median home price. In September 2008 the median home price for a
Fort Myers single family home was
$126,250. Fast forward to September 2009
and the median price is at $85,500. The
low prices are having a big impact on inventory. Again, comparing year-to-date through
September, single family inventory from 2008 to 2009 has declined by 5805. There are almost 50% fewer single family
homes available now in Fort Myers than
one year ago. Combine this significant
decrease in inventory with the very low prices and it sure seems like the 2009
buyers are in the money. The wild card
is the unknown inventory held by the banks.
What is clear is that the 2009
buyers have purchased homes well below replacement costs. These owners have provided themselves
significant financial cushion to make additional investments in their
properties. The buying class of 2009
will have significant competitive advantage over all the other buyers of the
last five years when they decide it’s time to sell the 2009 acquired
property. In addition, if so inclined
they have room in their purchase price for home improvements for their own
enjoyment or to make it more attractive for a new buyer when that time comes