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We continue to see a segment of homeowners looking to put their homes on the market because they feel they are reaching an age where they want or need to move to another state somewhere north of Florida to live closer to their children and grandchildren, or near other relatives. This is something we have seen happen as a part of the normal life cycle for a lot of people over the years, especially when they do not have other family members living here.
However, this time there is a different feel to this natural phenomenon, as most of these sellers are also citing the impact from Hurricane Ian as the other reason they want to move away. Many also mention the growth and crowded roads in Cape Coral and Southwest Florida as another reason for making the move, but we would say from our conversations with potential sellers that on Sept. 28, 2022, Ian provided the catalyst to their decision making, with the hassles of dealing with home repairs, large unexpected storm expenses and fighting with insurance companies adding fuel to their desire. The emotional and financial trauma caused by the storm, combined with the ever lingering post-storm fallout, including the uncertainty and rising costs of the property and flood insurance markets, is understandably more than some people want to handle at this point in their lives.
Fortunately, as some people are choosing to leave our area, we continue to see a lot of new out-of-town buyers still looking to move here. Some of these buyers continue to move here from the east coast of Florida, wanting to get away from the overcrowded, fast-paced lifestyle in the greater Miami area, while others are escaping from the high taxes, high crime and various social issues negatively impacting their lifestyle in other parts of the country. Many of these out-of-staters still have the severe COVID lockdowns they experienced in other parts of the country fresh on their minds, and whether you agree or disagree about that topic, they liked the way Florida handled it and they would rather be "stuck" living here than where they lived during COVID.
On a national level, we continue to hear the mantra that the real estate market has a massive shortage of available inventory, and that the lack of housing supply is helping to maintain home prices at a higher level than one might expect after mortgage rates have surged higher. Because of the run-up in home prices in the post-COVID housing boom and the dramatically higher mortgage financing costs, many would-be buyers have been forced out of the market because of affordability issues. At the same time, many would-be sellers feel "trapped" because their current mortgage rates are so low that they have no desire to sell their existing home to buy a new home at current mortgage rates that are more than twice their current rates, not to mention the generally still high home prices. It would also be unlikely that a seller could find a comparable home to rent for less than their current mortgage payment, so the lack of sellers remains a big issue in various parts of the country.
Our local market appears to be different from the national market, in that we had a severe shortage of inventory several years ago in the market boom tied to the post-COVID reopening when virtually every home would be sold in a matter of days, if not hours, after coming onto the market. Back then we referred to it as a "just in time" inventory as multiple buyers would aggressively descend on every new listing as soon as it hit the market creating a buyers feeding frenzy and bidding wars. Today, our inventory of homes on the market in Cape Coral is much higher and growing by the week, as many homes sit on the market unsold for substantially longer periods of time hoping to attract an offer from a buyer. Our current market resembles the market's of 2018 and 2019, when we used to write about an oversupply of overpriced homes and a short supply of "reasonably-priced" homes.
Today, as with back then, buyers have turned patient and will not overpay for a home. Most buyers are telling us they want a clean, move-in ready home that has been well-maintained and preferably updated, at a reasonable price to the current market. If a seller prices their home correctly to the market, it will get a brief flurry of showing appointments almost immediately and it will typically receive a solid offer within the first week that it is on the market. A solid offer is usually anywhere from full-price to 5 to 10% below list and negotiated from there. As a seller, if you are not getting any showing appointments, the clock is ticking and it will probably require a price reduction to attract interest.
Looking at our current market, as of Tuesday, Aug. 8, we reached 1,800 active listings in the MLS for Cape Coral single-family homes ranging in price from $210,000 to $3.895 million. The second lowest-priced home in the Cape was at $249,900 and the current median list price came in at $525,000. A year ago on Aug. 8, 2022, there were 1,397 active listings in Cape Coral at prices ranging from $254,900 to $5.995 million and the median list price was at $524,900. Back then, there were 324 homes listed at $400,000 and under versus 418 homes right now, and there were 182 homes listed at $1 million and above a year ago versus 223 homes today.
The number of homes currently under contract with a buyer as a pending sale dipped to 764 this week from 786 last week. Current pending sales range in price from $150,000 for a small storm damaged home in need of repairs to $2.59 million and the median pending sales price is $395,597. There are 422 pending sales priced at $400,000 and 28 priced at $1 million and above. On Aug. 9, 2022, there were 707 pending home sales in the pipeline in Cape Coral at prices ranging from $219,900 to $2.85 million, with 327 of those pending sales priced at $400,000 and under, and 30 priced at $1 million and above.
Based on the preliminary numbers for the overall Cape Coral single-family home market in the month of July, in the first 7 months of this year there have been 3,121 closed home sales, which is down 23.7 percent compared to the 4,088 sales in the first 7 months of 2022. By comparison, back in 2019 we posted 3,159 closed home sales in the first 7 months of that year. In the COVID-impacted year of 2020, we had 3,141 sales over 7 months, followed by a record number of 4,246 sales in the first 7 months of 2021. So basically, we have returned to the more normal, pre-COVID seasonal market patterns where sales slow down a bit in the summer months.
For their part, the median sales price for single-family homes in the overall Cape Coral market continues to hang in there. They have dropped from the single month record high of $470,000 for our overall market back in April 2022, while treading water in 2023 between $400,000 and $420,000. After the first 7 months of this year, the average median sales price was $414,789 per month, down only 3.5 percent from the average of $430,000 per month in the first 7 months of 2022. By comparison, after the first 7 months of 2019 the average median sales price was $243,305 per month, followed by an average of $254,557 per month in 2020. In 2021, the average median home sales price in the first 7 months of that year jumped to $322,014 per month before surging even higher in 2022, as noted above.
The sales data for this article was obtained from the Florida Realtors Multiple Listing Service Matrix for Lee County, FL, as of Aug. 7, 2023, 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 43 years. Geri has been a full-time Realtor since 2005, and Bob joined with Geri as a full-time Realtor in 2014. Their real estate practice is mainly focused on Cape Coral residential property and vacant lots.