NPR covers the Lee County foreclosure rocket docket
[more] →The Washington Post covers the Southwest Florida foreclosure crisis with a powerful photo essay detailing some of the challenges in the market. At present, nearly 2/3 of our real estate transactions involve either bank-owned foreclosure or short sale listings. Valuations for distressed properties have in many cases dropped to levels below half of what these properties sold for during the real estate boom.
[more] →Over the past year many investors have entered or are re-entering the Southwest Florida real estate market. Home prices beaten down by the extensive inventory of distressed property in our area has allowed investors to see positive ROI in some sectors.
The almost daily question that I get asked from out-of-region investors is what Southwest Florida real estate investment will provide the best return? While this is one of those questions that will often get a wide range of answers, there is no need to rub the crystal ball right now as one sector of our market really stands out for offering the best returns. The answer to the million dollar question is……Cape Coral single-family homes.
[more] →Wow what a surprise to see an article about the Gator Circle neighborhood of Cape Coral in the News-Press this morning. Gator Circle was Cape Coral’s poster child neighborhood for the real estate boom and subsequent bust.
During the real estate boom, I was truly amazed at all the entry-level spec homes that were under construction in this neighborhood by the likes of First Homes and Adams Homes. Investors were gobbling up Gator Circle starter homes like there was no tomorrow.
[more] →A new book, Exiles in Eden: Life Aong the Ruins of Florida’s Great Recession, offering an insiders view to the Florida housing crisis is hitting the shelves this week.
The Fort Myers area is prominently covered by author Paul Reyes including a look at a mostly abandoned, upscale gated community. A book about the housing bust would not be complete without an examination of Lehigh Acres, where the authors parents purchased a vacant lot in 1969 on the $10/month plan while honeymooning in Miami.
[more] →USA Today covers our local market in an article titled “Fort Myers has home bargains as market recovers from bubble.” The article cites market improvements of 121% for home sales from June 2008 to June 2009. The article also discusses is an 18% drop in homes sales in June 2010 and attributes this decrease to the end of the home-buyer tax credit, a lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program and concerns about the oil spill.
[more] →A recent NY Times article titled, Owners Stop Paying Mortgages, and Stop Fretting has resulted in several hundred very polarizing comments about this controversial issue. There appears to be very little common ground between the “moral obligation” and “self preservation” camps on this issue.
The article cites research that over 650,000 US households have not made a mortgage payment in over 18 months. Of these 650,000 households at least 18 months in arrears, 19 percent have yet to have any action taken against them by the lender to repossess the home.
[more] →One of the most succinct ways to summarize our real estate market in Southwest Florida is that right now it is a good time to be a buyer and a challenging time to be a seller.
A Forbes study ranks the Cape Coral-Fort Myers market at -8% for home-equity-to-home-value, the second worst in the nation. This current underwater position is a dramatic a shift from the 68% home-equity-to-home-value that Southwest Floridians enjoyed in 2006.
[more] →The opportunity to purchase a significantly discounted bank-owned property in Cape Coral is still available for those seeking a primary residence or second home. The majority of the Cape Coral foreclosure inventory consists of single-family homes. Both waterfront and off-water options are currently available.
[more] →Fort Myers MLS Map Search
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