Occupancy Rates Up and Rents are Dropping

The latest report on the Lee County rental market released by RealFacts of Novato, CA detailed shifts in our rental market for 2Q10.  Lee County apartment occupancy rates in 2Q10 climbed 4% to 90.8%, the fourth highest in the 12 major Florida markets.  Lee County rents for the same period dropped 9.1% to an average of $762/month.  This decline in rental rates was the highest in Florida during 2Q10.  The Fort Myers-Cape Coral market now ranks 9/12 in average rental rates in the 12 major Florida metro markets.

The biggest challenge for landlords in this market is the quality of tenants.  Many who have lost jobs and homes are seeking rental arrangements.  Also with our rock-bottom prices, the best qualified renters are purchasing in this environment, further skewing tenant quality.  We are seeing a significant demand for lease-to-own arrangements in this market for those who have wrecked their credit via short sale or foreclosure.  These types of arrangements may prove very attractive for investors with skinny or negative cash flow assets.

Here is a resource to view investment properties in the Fort Myers-Cape Coral market

Sailors and boaters are drawn to the Boardwalk Caper community for its unrestricted deep water access……location less than 10 minutes from the Gulf…………and affordable home prices.

The community is connected by a 1/2 mile lighted boardwalk home to 251 slips.  Many friendships have formed, boat purchase decisions have been made, knowledge has been passed along and even a romance or two have sparked during a stroll along the boardwalk.

When you are not enjoying the waters of the Gulf, the gated Boardwalk Caper community has much to offer including four swimming pools, a fitness center, clubhouse, tennis, shuffeboard and basketball courts. Boardwalk Caper’s location just before the Fort Myers Beach Bridge also offers convenient access to the beach.

Housing options at Boardwalk Caper include condos, high-rise condos and town homes.  Currently, there are 18 homes for sale at Boardwalk Caper ranging in price from $175,000 to $599,000.  Here is a resource to view active Boardwalk Caper real estate listings.

While Fort Myers Beach is recognized world-wide for its gulf-side beaches, the bay side of Fort Myers Beach offers tremendous gulf access boating.  The bay-side neighborhoods of Fort Myers Beach offer unrestricted deep water gulf access with very short rides to open water.  Fort Myers Beach gulf access communities are located along the entire length of Estero Island on the bay side.  In addition to great boating, residents in these neighborhoods have a short walk to the gulf beaches.

Two of my favorite gulf access communities are not located on either of the two islands, San Carlos or Estero that Fort Myers Beach is best known for, but rather in the mainland section of Fort Myers Beach off San Carlos Boulevard south of Summerlin Road.  These two upscale communities of Siesta Isles and Palm Isles feature newer luxury homes on wide canals and are bordered by extensive natural preserves. Homes are currently for sale in Siesta Isles ranging in price from $475,000 to $888,000 and at Palm Isles from $479,000 to $1.35M.

An intimate and exclusive gulf access community

Tucked away off Iona Road just west of Mcgregor Boulevard and Gulf Harbour is the community of Harbour Isle.  Housing options at Harbour Isles include single-family homes, villas and condos.  The community was built-out by respected local developer Carlton-Naumann.

The Harbour Isles location in the Iona section of South Fort Myers offers boating access to the gulf in about 15 minutes.  The community features an 82 slip marina with dock space available for both rent and purchase.  Harbour Isles also features a freshwater lagoon with docks where owners can keep boats up to 28 ft.  Boats in the freshwater lagoon can be forklifted to the saltwater marina twice a day for no charge.  This is a great low-cost docking option for owners of boats up to 28 ft. in length.

Harbour Isles amenities include multiple pools, a clubhouse, gym, tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, fishing dock and a small beach.

Currently, 11 Harbour Isles properties are listed for sale ranging in price from $289,500 for a 1,642 attached villa to $3.29M for a 5,342 SF riverfront estate home.  Here is a resource to view Harbour Isle real estate.

Wink News reports that the foreclosure auction held last night at the Harborside Event Center netted sales of 75 homes.  Our market is still heavily weighted towards foreclosures with approximately two-thirds off all homes being sold falling into the distressed category.

We continue to see significant activity mostly from second-home buyers looking to take advantage of aggressively priced foreclosure listings.  Here are free web resources that are updated daily with the latest foreclosure listings:

• Fort Myers foreclosures
• Fort Myers beach foreclosures
• Cape Coral foreclosures
• Estero foreclosures
• Bonita Springs foreclosures

The most expensive home to sell in Lee County Florida during October 2009 was a Bonita Beach gulf-front single-family home located at 27030 Hickory Boulevard, Bonita Springs.  This Bonita Beach home is 1,801 SF and features 3 BR and 3 BA on a .3-acre beachfront lot.

The selling price was $1.545M / $857 SF.  Congratulations to selling Realtor Bob Jensen of Bluebell Real Estate for closing the most expensive residential property in October 2009.

Honorable mention for 2nd most expensive Lee County home sold in October was a single-family home located at 665 Matanzas Court, Fort Myers Beach.  This 2,228 SF bayfront home offers gulf access boating and features a 4 BR and 3 BA.

The selling price was $1.12M / $396 SF. Congratulations to Realtor Gerry Harris of Engel & Voelkers Cape Coral for closing this transaction.

Luxury carriage homes for under $250K

If you have ever dipped your toe in the water at Miromar Lakes and thought about buying a home………now might just be the time to dive in.  Home and condo prices at Miromar Lakes have dropped significantly and this wonderful community is now financially feasible for a broader spectrum of buyers.

Over the past three months, there have been four sales at Miromar Lakes for under $250,000.  All four of these transactions were for carriage homes in the San Marino neighborhood.

Like so much of Southwest Florida, even upscale Miromar Lakes has been impacted by the foreclosure crisis.  Our Miromar Lakes foreclosure page updates daily with new listings.

According to a recent USA Today article, only 23% of short sale deals actually ever close. This figure came from a February 2009 survey by Campbell Communications of 1,300 Realtors. More than 90% of the agents cited slow responses from the lender as the reason that short sales were lost.

These figures certainly jive with what our team has experienced in the distressed property trenches of Southwest Florida.  It can be challenging trying to convince an eager buyer that the aggresively priced short sale listing has a very low probability of closing.  We are experiencing far higher closing percentages with foreclosure listings.

Here is a free resource that is updated daily to view Southwest Florida foreclosures:

• Bonita Springs foreclosures
• Cape Coral foreclosures
• Estero foreclosures
• Fort Myers foreclosures
• Fort Myers Beach foreclosures
• Pine Island foreclosures

If you do decide to move forward and make an offer on a short sale, please read this blog post about the questions that you need answered prior to submitting the short sale offer.