Cape Coral Real Estate : December 2006

· According to the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research, Lee County will add between 75,000 and 100,000 people every five years until 2030.

• Between 1960 and 2005, the population growth was about 500,000. It's expected to double by 2030, bringing the total population to 1 million.

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Florida

• The 2006 Florida population is estimated at 18,089,888.

· According to the Census Bureau, Florida remains the third most populous state, behind California and Texas.

• Florida gained 321,697 people between July 2005 and July 2006. That was a larger increase than any state except Texas.

• Thee are more than 26 million people projected by 2030.

Cape Coral Real Estate Market - Comparing 2005 to 2006

- These figures were pulled out of the Greater Ft. Myers MLS & do not include the Cape Coral MLS (although many listings were entered in both MLSs & the majority were in the Ft. Myers MLS) -

From Jan 1, 2005 - Dec 27, 2005

817 condos/townhomes sold

4,291 single family homes sold

8,474 vacant lots sold

From Jan 1, 2006 - Dec 27, 2006

219 condos/townhomes sold

3,134 single family homes sold

1,472 vacant lots sold

These figures tell us that the single family house market has not fallen that far from last year. We're looking at about a 27% drop. Not bad considering the crazy buyer frenzy of '05. The condos tell a very different tale at a 73% drop in sales. This tells us that we have too many condos & not enough buyers for them. Finally, the most dramatic decrease can be found in vacant lots. They dropped a staggering 83%.

Remember, this is not down for value, just for total sold.

What does our current inventory look like? Although I'm a strong believer that almost 1/2 of our inventory isn't true inventory (because prices are too high), here's the figures:

1,048 condos actively on the market

29 pending sale

4,773 homes on the market

252 pending sale

8,823 vacant lots on the market

108 pending sale 

Which can be equated to approximately 58 months of condo inventory, 18 months of single family home inventory & a whopping 72 months of vacant land inventory. That same inventory for last year would have only been 15 months of condo inventory, 13 months of home inventory & 12 months of vacant land inventory.

However, take into consideration that at least 30% (conservative) of the inventory isn't true inventory (see above) we're truly looking at the following:

40 months of condo inventory -

13 months of single family home inventory -

50 months of vacant land inventory -

So if you have a condo or vacant land to sell please listen to your Realtor & price it accordingly. You cannot afford to 'wait & see'. If you are a buyer, you have many great opportunities for investing here.

Happy Holidays

Can you believe it's almost the end of 2006? I know I say this every year but don't the years just fly by? It makes you really take a look at where you are, where you want to go & what you should be doing. At least for me it does. I set yearly goals & look at them often to remain on track. Some of us set goals at the New Year & forget about them until the following year. To me, life is too short to not be happy & do what you want to do. This year make plans & goals that bring happiness into your life & stick with them!

Hopefully you have your holiday shopping done & if not be careful on the roads. The tourists are definitely here as the traffic is much different than even a month ago. Showings are up on our listings but offers are slower to come in. Inventory is still high but the properties that are priced correctly are selling. We do have plenty of buyers in town!

Enjoy your friends & family ~ remember gratitude & giving...

Team Holiday Schedule

Our schedule for the next 2 weeks: closed this weekend & Monday (Christmas). Open regular hours Tues-Fri. Dec 30 & 31^st by appointment only & closed Jan 1, 2007 for the New Year. Regular schedule Tues-Fri Jan 2-5. Obviously we'll be answering the phone to schedule showing appointments & such all times.

News to Share

Great News - addition to The-Extreme-Team ~ Please welcome Laura Lewis to our team. She has been in real estate for a few years & she was the top producing agent at the last company she worked for last year. If we have your mailing address you received a holiday card from us with our business cards inside. If you call or e-mail you may speak with Laura also. She will primarily be servicing buyers but is experienced with sellers as well.   You can reach Laura at her website: http://www.lauralewishomes.com (if I we have your house or property listed it's probably featured on her site as well), on the phone at 239-633-2355 or via e-mail at Laura@the-extreme-team.com !

By the way, if you didn't get your holiday greeting, I either have your address incorrect or not at all so please update me when you have the opportunity.

Year in Review

The market took a dramatic shift this year from a very strong seller's market to a very strong buyer's market. The buyers and sellers have finally begun to react accordingly and inventory is moving. We predict 2007 to be a very telling year as foreclosures continue on the rise & the baby boomers start making their way into the Florida marketplace.

For those of you who are curious, this year I closed 23 transactions. That's down slightly from last year (crazy year) however still well above average.

As always, contact us at any time with any real estate questions you may have. I look forward to working with you to help you obtain whatever real estate goals you have this year & for life!

Yours in Success,   Susan Milner, Licensed Real Estate Consultant & e-PRO GRI REALTOR®
http://www.susanmilner.com/ - search the entire MLS from my site!

A while back I posted a story about a client of mine who found a diamondback rattlesnake in his yard in North Port. Well he has found another since!

But here's onto my newest story. I know that we have Nile Monitor Lizards here but I have yet to see any. My new neighbor & I were chatting the other day & he told me that there is at least one living in the canal here. He said it eats anything it can - including small pets. Well I have a little dog so I was a bit concerned. He told me that another neighbor had a friend walking his dog & that the Monitor came up and bit the dogs leg WHILE the owner was right there. Ok, so they are NOT afraid of people. Even scarier. So now I keep thinking about this thing when I walk my dog. I guess it is somewhere between 5-6 feet long!

Here's a photo I found online so you could see what they look like in case you don't know. Maybe I'll get a photo of the neighborhood Nile Monitor and post it one day!

By the way, Lee County, specifically Cape Coral, Florida is the only known area of confirmed breeding of such animals in Florida per this website/study: http://www.floridaconservation.org/critters/exotics/SpeciesNumberResults.asp?SPPNO=291

What unusual wild animals can be found where you live?