September Housing trends and statistics

Media Contact:
Lori H. Ersolmaz
lori@rpcra.org
Housing Market Continues Positive Track in Sept. 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Fort Myers, FL – October 23, 2018) – Overall, Lee County’s housing market continues in a
positive upswing for the month of September, according to the latest statistics just released by
Florida Realtors® despite some of the water quality issues we’ve seen.
"In September 2017, Florida's housing sector and overall economy were impacted by both prehurricane
preparations and the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Irma," said 2018 Florida
Realtors® President, Christine Hansen. “In looking at this year's September data, you have to
keep that factor in mind for comparison purposes.”
Year-over-year, sales significantly increased for both Single Family Homes and Townhouses
and Condos. Last month there was a 31.9% increase in the number of Closed Sales for Single
Family Homes, and a 24% increase for Townhouses and Condos, compared to the same time
last year. Median Sale prices were also up slightly for both, as well as the number of Active
Listings. Properties spent less median time to contract in September, with Single Family Homes
spending 51 days, a 28.2% decrease from 2017. However, Townhouses and Condos saw an
25.9% increase in days on the market.
Fort Myers Beach saw a 200% increase in houses sold over 2017 and Sanibel/Captiva had a
42.9% jump in Closed Sales of Single Family Homes. Sanibel/Captiva also saw an increase in
median price from $660,000 in 2017 to $825,000 in 2018. Another growth area was Lehigh
Acres, up 66.3% for Closed Single Family Homes, and all other cities also saw a solid upward
increase.
When looking at Closed Sales by Price Point, for Single Family Homes the numbers for all price
ranges between $200,000 - $1,000,000-plus increased. For Condos and Townhouses the
largest jump was in the $400,000-$999,999 range, which saw an increase of 93.3% and
$1,000,000-plus increased by 50%.
"Fortunately, the year-over-year changes reported for most of Florida Realtors® other metrics –
like median price – were not as significantly skewed by the impact of Hurricane Irma,” said
Florida Realtors® Chief Economist Dr. Brad O'Connor. And, while we have seen some national
media reports from Lee County due to water quality, for the most part it has not dimmed the
positive growth the market achieved over the past year.