Trending
With growing concerns and indications that the ominous storm clouds of a potentially severe global economic recession are building on the horizon, our current real estate market continues to click on all cylinders.
Although economic conditions could adjust rapidly in either direction due to global events, it appears that we may be heading towards a 1970s-style of serious Stagflation, among a host of other issues. So at some point in the future, based on a rational thought process, one might expect for all of this to eventually have a negative impact on our real estate market, but it sure has not come into play right now.
Elsewhere, some real estate markets are reaching even more extreme levels, while other luxury market segments seem to be re-adjusting lower. In a recent column, we mentioned reports that portions of the Canadian housing market were reaching crazy levels that make our market look relatively tame by comparison. According to a recent article in The Globe and Mail, an extensively remodeled detached home on a 25-foot lot in North Toronto with an asking price of $1.995 million drew a crowd of some 80 potential buyers when the home went on the market in February. It ended up selling for $2.608 million, or almost 31 percent above the list price. The sellers bought the home for $1.065 million back in August 2014, nearly tripling their money less than eight years later. On the flip side in a tale of two markets, based on a report from Bloomberg, an infamous Bel-Air, Calif., megamansion known as "The One," was recently sold for about half of its listing price in a bankruptcy auction.
We continue to see extremely strong interest in our market from out-of-town buyers, as they compete against each other in multiple offer situations the moment most new listings hit the market. As an example of our continued tight inventory, on Tuesday, March 29, there were 469 single-family homes listed for sale in Cape Coral through a Realtor in the Multiple Listing Service, with asking prices ranging from $280,000 to $5.995 million. One year ago, on March 29, 2021, there were only 335 active single-family home listings in the Cape at prices ranging from $199,900 to $3.85 million. So despite the fact that the number of active listings available on the market for buyers is still abnormally low, it is running 40 percent higher than a year ago, as home prices have continued to surge higher. The combination of this "just in time" inventory and rapid turnover with many homes going under contract in a matter of days has a lot of interested buyers anxiously looking to make an offer on the "next home up."
In our current market, there were 62 homes listed at $400,000 and under, with only four of these homes priced below $300,000. At the other end of the spectrum, there were 80 homes in Cape Coral listed at $1 million and above. The current median list price for single-family homes in the Cape is $589,000. There were two additional listings for distressed properties, so the number of short sales and foreclosures remain almost non-existent.
There were a total of 1,016 Cape Coral homes under contract with buyers as pending sales at list prices ranging from $186,000 to $3.985 million. A year ago on March 29, 2021, there were 1,322 pending sales in the pipeline. Of note, the home that is currently pending at $186,000 was a new 1,284-square-foot home located in the Northeast Cape that was on the market for four days. This home, which is on well water and septic, came back on the market after a prior purchase contract fell through. The highest-priced pending sale at $3.985 million was for a direct sailboat access canal home in the Yacht Club area in the Southeast Cape, which was built with 4001 square feet of living area back in 2013. This home went under contract with a buyer in only six days. Both of these pending sales are perfect examples of our quickly rotating "just in time" inventory.
In the overall Cape Coral single-family home market, the monthly supply of unsold homes came in at 3 months in February. This was 25 percent lower than the 4 months of unsold supply in both February 2021, and in January of this year. In the first two months of 2022, the monthly level of unsold supply in the Cape's overall single-family home market averaged 3.5 months, which was 12.5 percent less than the average of 4 months of unsold supply in January and February 2021.
Indirect gulf access canal homes
In the Cape Coral single-family indirect gulf access canal home segment, which covers homes with at least one bridge for boaters to go under in the canal system, the monthly supply of unsold homes came in at 3 months in February. This was even with the 3 months of unsold supply in February 2021, but 25 percent below the 3 months of supply in this segment in January of this year. In the first two months of 2022, the monthly level of unsold supply for indirect gulf access homes averaged 3.5 months, which was 16.7 percent more than the average of 3 months of unsold supply in January and February 2021.
Direct sailboat access canal homes
In the Cape Coral single-family direct sailboat access canal home segment, which represents homes without any bridges in the canal system, the monthly supply of unsold homes came in at 3 months in February. This was even with the 3 months of unsold supply in this segment in both February 2021, and in January of this year. In the first two months of 2022, the monthly level of unsold supply in this segment also averaged 3 months, which was even with the average of 3 months of unsold supply in January and February 2021.
Freshwater canal and lake homes
In the Cape Coral single-family freshwater canal and lake home segment, which consists of landlocked canals and lakes with no access to the river or the Gulf of Mexico by boat, the monthly supply of unsold homes came in at 2 months in February. This was 33.33 percent lower than the 3 months of unsold supply in both February 2021, and in January of this year. In the first two months of 2022, the monthly level of unsold supply in this segment averaged 2.5 months, which was 16.7 percent less than the average of 3 months of unsold supply in January and February 2021.
Dry lot homes
In the Cape Coral single-family dry lot (non-canal) home segment, the monthly supply of unsold homes came in at 4 months in February, which was even with the 4 months of supply in both February 2021, and in January of this year. In the first two months of 2022, the monthly level of unsold supply in this segment has also averaged 4 months, which was even with the average of 4 months of unsold supply in January and February 2021.
The sales data for this article was obtained from the Florida Realtors Multiple Listing Service Matrix for Lee County, Fla., as of March 21, 2022, unless otherwise noted. It was compiled by Bob and Geri Quinn and it includes information specifically for Cape Coral single-family homes, and does not include condominiums, short sales or foreclosures. The data and statistics are believed to be reliable, however, they could be updated and revised periodically, and are subject to change without notice. The Quinns are a husband and wife real estate team with the RE/MAX Realty Team office in Cape Coral. They have lived in Cape Coral for over 42 years. Geri has been a full-time Realtor since 2005, and Bob joined Geri as a full-time Realtor in 2014. Their real estate practice is mainly focused on Cape Coral residential property and vacant lots.