Home prices drop in January

Existing homes resale prices drop 10.9 percent

The Lee County existing home resale market cooled in January, with the average sale price dropping from $322,300 in December to $287,200, a decrease of 10.9 percent. Sales volume was off 30 percent dropping from 1,084 to 751.

The question that remains unanswered is if this dramatic drop in January sales was impacted by the double counting issue that surfaced in early February. If in fact some sales in Lee County were being counted by both the Cape Coral and Ft. Myers Boards of Realtors, then previous numbers may have been incorrectly skewed upward for quite some time.

The inventory of unsold homes in Lee County is approaching 9,000, which equates to a nearly ten month supply based on 11,000 total sales in Lee County during 2005.

Collier County existing home resale prices were up 3.9 percent to $511,400 from $492,300 in December. Sales volume remained virtually the same with 264 in January and 266 in December.

Lee existing-home sales, prices drop in January [News-Press]
Naples home sales down 31 percent [Naples Daily News]