Real Estate activity in Southwest Florida continues to remain very active. Markets across the Sunshine State including Lee County are active with both the For Sale market and Rental activity. Sale Trends for condominiums and townhouses, which includes duplexes, roughly mirrored the single-family market. However, housing inventory was especially tight in this segment, resulting in a drop of 91.7%-roughly a two week supply of housing units. That compares with a six-month supply of condos and townhomes just one year ago. Malt Realty continues to experience a strong demand for rental units as prospects relocating from out of state remain interested in locating housing as employment demands increase. Access to COVID-19 vaccines continues to improve confidence in workers re-entering the labor force. As pandemic restrictions ease, more buyers are coming to Southwest Florida, but are finding that there is a diminishing supply of homes available. With such limited amount of homes available, the market is looking at new home builders to provide a much-needed boost of inventory to help meet buyer demand. Analysts expect the current historical low levels of homes For Sale to continue for some time.
This snapshot will attempt to provide a brief summary of our market indicators.
Now, new U.S. Census data shows that two of our metro areas are among the nine fastest growing in the nation, at least partly fueled by the surge of residents moving from larger cities during the coronavirus crisis. Lee County slotted fifth by swelling 2.5% in 2020 from 2019, and Sarasota placed ninth with 2%,according to a New York Times analysis. Lee County topped Southwest Florida with an increase of 18,499 for a total of 790,767.It is estimated that the Ft. Myers/Cape Coral market is adding 50 new people a day. In past decade Lee County has gained almost 175,000 residents, up from 618,000.Spurred by more than $2.1 billion in new construction, taxable property values in Lee County increased by 6.3% during 2020,according to an official estimate from the Lee County Property Appraiser’s Office.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, there were 195 vacant, completed homes in the Naples/Ft. Myers market, less than a half of one month’s supply. Lee County currently has approximately a 15.8 month supply of finished vacant single family lots on the market. The lowest number of finished vacant lots on the market since 2006. A 25-35 month supply of finished vacant lots would be needed to reach equilibrium, where supply can meet demand. Builders are currently taking 18 to 24 months to build a new home, in large due to the shortage of building materials and labor.
According to Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association, Single-Family homes in Southwest Florida, the average sale price rose nearly 48% last month versus a year ago to $507,517. The median price jumped 39% compared to May 2020 from $262,963 to $365,000. As a result, the housing affordability index dropped nearly 27% compared to last year at this time. The average price for condo and townhome units sold in May was $330,890, with the median price of $246,000.
On the supply side of single family properties, the number of houses For Sale dropped more than 77% in May versus a year ago. That translates into a meager 0.7 month’s supply of inventory. A year ago, Lee County had a 4.9 month of supply, which is typical in this area for late spring. The average single-family home sold in just 27 days last month- 60% less time than just a year ago,2020.Condos and Townhomes lasted just 36 days on the market last month compared to 74 days on the market in May 2020.
New construction of rental properties are active with hundreds of units coming on line this year. Rental rates of existing properties are increasing 5-8% annually as we emerge from the pandemic and rental eviction restrictions. Availability of rental product is scarce and Malt Realty remains vigilant on stringent credit application requirements to ensure tenants are properly qualified.
The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for the region in April 2021 increased 0.2 points from the previous month to 4.9 percent, but was 11.1 percentage points below the COVID impacted April 2020 figure. The region had both month-to-month increases in both employed and unemployed workers in April 2021 (up 8,820 and 1,474, respectively), as increased access due to vaccines continue to improve confidence in workers re-entering the labor force.