The latest housing inventory supply numbers show we have a 5.89-month supply of homes on the market today. This is up slightly from 5.84 months’ supply back in February. We decided to update the graph with more relevant price categories. Before, half the categories were under $300,000. The old format was useful until prices shot up over the decades. Latest Housing Inventory Supply Anything $400,000 or less in Lee County has the least supply, and this makes sense. When we start getting up $400,000+ you begin to see properties sitting on the market longer as there is more inventory. Buyers have ..read more

Good news this week for home sellers as lenders update closing costs sellers are permitted to pay for the buyers. Why this is Big News The recent proposed settlement from NAR on the commission lawsuit prohibits listing what the seller is offering to the buyer agent in the MLS.  Sellers can still offer buyer agent compensation or agree to pay buyer closing costs. The recent agreement also mandates buyers sign a buyer agent agreement showing how much the buyer will pay their agent. The confusion could arise, depending on how the contract is written, if the payment is compensation or concess ..read more

Lee County Florida housing inventory levels stabilize at the end of season. This is true for single family homes and condo listings. To be fair, there were 111 single family homes that expired on April 1st and some of them will come back on the market. Those 111 expired listings would not have changed things that much. We’ll be watching pending sales going into April and May, and of course new listings. All eyes will also be on interest rates this year as well. I did a little digging into the market and analyzed last week’s price reductions. 12.62 % of all single-family home listings reduced ..read more

  Everywhere you turn there are headlines about the Realtor commission lawsuit settlement. Just about every news story gets it wrong or does not understand the facts. I know you’re never going to read the details of the settlement, so let me explain what changes, what doesn’t change, who wins and loses by this settlement and some predictions.  If you’re still reading to the end, I’ll cover more details for those interested. What Changes Buyers will have to sign a buyer’s broker agreement before looking at property. The exception might be open houses. It is unclear if buyer agents wi ..read more

2024 Total pending sales equals last year’s numbers. In 2023 Lee County saw 2,254 total pending sales for single family homes, condos, and manufactured homes on March 21, 2023. We track numbers every Tuesday, so this year’s numbers came out March 19, 2024. The current year’s numbers show 2,234, which is pretty close to last year. The difference though isn’t in the pending sales. It is in the active listings. In 2023 we had 5,458 total active listings across all residential property types for sale. In 2024 we have 10,745 which is almost double the listings. Roughly, Lee County total pending sa ..read more

Mortgage rates seem outrageously high until we look at mortgage rate historical averages. We will explore two concepts relating to mortgage rates today. Nationwide resale home inventory is low because many homeowners feel trapped in their home as they do not want to relinquish their 3% interest rate. To them, selling and buying today seems like a financial penalty. Buyers nationwide have little to choose from, so not only are they paying higher rates, but they are also bidding for houses. Normal Inventory in SW Florida Of course, we do not have that issue in Southwest Florida as we have 6,694 ..read more

We study nationwide new home starts because it affects housing supply, which affects home prices. During the last housing bubble builders stopped building which led to an under supply of new homes coming to the market. Consequently, we estimate we were about 1.5 million homes nationwide short of keeping up with demand. As you can see from the chart, from 2008 to 2021 we did not build enough homes.  In 2021 and 2022 we surpassed the 1 million home mark, but in no way could that make up for the nationwide new home starts deficit from the preceding 12 years. Need 1 Million New Home Starts A ..read more

Median January 2024 home prices fell 3.6% from last year. Average home prices were up 8.7% in January. The reason we don’t look at average home prices as an official number is because it can be skewed by a few large sales and tends to be more volatile.   Home prices typically rise from January through May because they are seasonal. Our highest home sales typically close in season and culminate in May. We will be keeping a close eye on home sale prices going forward into February and March. Pending Sales We are down 133 pending sales from this time last year.  Single family listings ..read more

Lee County housing supply increased in February up to 5.84 months supply, up from 5.05 months at the beginning of the year. Let’s break down which price ranges have changed the most. All price ranges increased in inventory, but as we go higher the effects seems to be much greater. For instance, the $300-400k market increased by .44 months. The $400-600k market increased by .82 months. The $600k-$1 million market increased by 1.07 months, and the $1 million+ market increased by 2.31 months. Lee County Housing Supply Grows on the High End  The data shows the higher priced homes have been h ..read more

FEMA flood insurance discounts range from 5% to 45% and is determined by the participating community’s level of participation. In other words, communities can lower their premiums by taking action to mitigate future flood losses. FEMA issues a class rating to each community based on the activities they take. Essentially, the community earns points towards a discount. A class 1 rating earns the 45% discount, and a class 10 rating earns no discount. Class 9 earns a 5% discount. How to Earn Credits What can a community do to earn credits? The first is having elevation certificates for new constr ..read more