90% 0f Fort Myers Beach Sales All Cash

An amazing 90% of all home sales in Fort Myers Beach are all cash in the post recovery era of Hurricane Ian. Investors are buying up properties at the beach as the Gulf Coast community transforms into a new tropical oasis of sorts.

Recovery from Hurricane Ian three years ago this September has been slow chiefly due to higher mortgage rates and government red tape, including FEMA’s 50% rule, which requires any property that has suffered more than half of its assessed dollar damage to be raised on piles. Delayed or rejected insurance claims and slow permitting have contributed to the slow recovery.

Cape Coral & Fort Myers

After Hurricane Ian, single-family permit issuance collapsed in Q4 2022 (398) at Fort Myers Beach. Building permits more than doubled a year later but that recovery hasn’t fully translated into new-home sales, with a lack of buyer demand, mainly due to much higher home prices. Buyer hesitancy is also fueled by higher insurance premiums. However, home insurance rates have begun to decline, dropping more than 20% with some insurers.

Land has been selling at record rates as investors swoop in to buy property to build on in the future. Many lots have sold for prices that have never been seen before in the coastal community into millions of dollars.

Fort Myers Beach is a rare oasis along the Gulf Coast but global warming and other factors also contribute to the slow recovery, which many locals expect to take more than a decade to transform into a new beach community.

At least three major condominium developments are planned in Fort Myers Beach. As of this month (June) inventory of homes listed for sale in Fort Myers ballooned to 8.1 months, and more than 13 months in Fort Myers Beach. Luxury and larger homes have held up better, despite the higher prices.

90% of Fort Myers Beach Sales All Cash

Devastated by a 15-foot storm surge that wiped out hundreds of structures, Fort Myers Beach lost 41% of assessed property value—dropping from $4.7 billion to $2.8 billion by mid‑2023. Around 900 structures were destroyed during the hurricane, with another 2,200 damaged. Hundreds of them severely.

Recovery has been uneven:

• Numerous older wood cottages vanished permanently, some replaced by newer, code-compliant structures—like Margaritaville Resort, which survived due to increased Florida state hurricane codes.
• Rebuilding delays are tied to FEMA “50% rule”, insurance claims, permitting hold-ups, and limited labor—industry sources say “it’s going to take years.
• Real estate remains brisk for properties priced to sell: in mid‑2023, 131 single‑family homes sold at median $754K; 70 condos closed.