Look no farther, I am in the South West Florida Real Estate market helping people buy their retirement homes and investment property in Lee and Charlotte counties. I work for Century 21 Sunbelt Realty, Inc. in Cape Coral, Florida, that as a firm, is number one in the world for units sold in 2005 throughout the system worldwide out of 7,680 offices.

My name is Andrew Kovacic. Call me anytime to discuss your SW Florida Real Estate needs at 239-738-1581 or 216-235-2102.

The stellar performance of the Florida Real Estate market over the past 5 years was fueled by investors’ “gold fever”. Investors can fuel the market, however it takes users to sustain the market. Growing inventory and lessened investor demand indicates we are now in a buyer’s market here in SW Florida. Buyer’s may want to wait for better prices, but 2006 could be the best year to buy because the buyer will have two things he didn’t have in the 5 previous years, choice and the ability to negotiate. When excess inventory is absorbed by the end user, prices will naturally start to climb.

The median sales price for an existing home in Lee County was:

Source: Florida Association of Realtors

SW Florida prices have peeked sometime around August 2005 after a 5 year run up, and the softened market has caused prices to come down within the last 6 months.

Each day, around 400 houses go on the market, but only 100 are sold. Every day about 300 owners are reducing their sales prices. Sales prices in the past three months of the year headed down from $358,560 to $307,184.

To further illustrate, in January 2005, there were 2,906 homes on the market, and about half of them sold. Almost one year later, in December 2005 there were 6,662 homes on the market and only 617 of them sold. In one year, there were twice the amount of homes on the market, and a third less sales.

The drop in buyers buying property, plus the increase in property available is creating a very desirable market for buyers to purchase property right now.

An area heavily affected in favor for the buyer is vacant land. SW Florida has hundreds of square miles of land that was originally platted and sold in the 1950's. The land did not appreciate for 50 years. 3-5 years ago, you could still buy the land from original owners for around $1,000. Then, there was a surge in the market caused by heavy investor and builder interest. The supply that was listed on the MLS system was short because it was never in demand. An example of this is in Lehigh Acres, Florida, which measures 95 square miles. In January 2003, quarter acre lots in Lehigh Acres were listed under $3,000. In June 2005 the same lots sold for an average of $47,000, just two and a half years later. This market rush was caused by investors and builders buying up the land that was available for sale. During this time, real estate agents contacted land owners notifying them of the high market prices to list their property. So many people agreed to list their land, the market became extremely over saturated with thousands of lots. There are currently 8,216 lots actively for sale right now in Lehigh Acres. With an over abundance of supply, and builders and investors no longer buying, prices are naturally coming down. This is a reflection of what is happening in the South West Florida real estate market.

The SW Florida population could possibly double as boomers will relocate to South West Florida for the next 25 years. Lee County already is growing at 25,000 people per year. Altogether, about 4 million baby boomers are expected to relocate to Florida when they retire. Typically, one in four retirees move to Florida for its climate and lack of state income tax.

South West Florida has what boomers want - health care services, a convenient airport, malls and upscale shops, colleges and a university, plenty of outdoor activities, nature trails and beaches all under plenty of sunshine and an annual average temperature of 74.4 degrees

Lee County’s jobless rate fell to 2.3 percent in December, the lowest mark in 6 years as hiring boomed in construction and the hospital industry. Lee County continues to be one of the healthiest economies in the state. Lee County is nationally ranked in the number of new jobs being created among large counties, according to a study by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Lee and Collier County are surpassing the rest of the state in new stores with 4 million square feet in the works for 2006 and 2007. The growth is driven by the area’s surging population. Lee county has 514,000 residents, and is expected to grow to 600,000 in four years by 2010. That equates to 60 people a day moving into Lee County.

Cape Coral’s population recently topped 150,000 which means about 1 in four people in Lee County live in Cape Coral. To contrast, the population in Cape Coral in 1961 was 550. The population of Cape Coral in 1980 was 32,000. One third of Cape Coral’s population has arrived in the last 5 years. Once a retirement haven, Cape Coral is populated with thousands of children who play soccer, baseball and football on city fields. They attend three public high schools, five middle schools and 10 elementary schools. Home building is soaring with more than 7,600 permits last year. About 60 percent of the city remains vacant. Buildout is expected in 2080 with 413,000 residents.

The bottom line is if you were ever interested in buying a home in SW Florida, now is great time to do it.

Vacant land is available under $40k, there are 3 bed 2 bath homes in desirable areas under $150, condo’s under $120k and waterfront gulf access condo’s for under $250k

Call me today to discuss your needs 239-738-1581 or 216-235-2102.