by Mike Colpitts 
The Fort Myers home inventory drops as the number of single family homes listed for sale on the market reaches a three month bottom.
- Things are looking up for the Fort Myers area housing market as mortgage rates slowly decline and buyers return to looking for property.
- Snowbirds, which are the second largest segment of the region’s housing market are tracked making more searches for homes and condos listed for sale.
The inventory of homes listed for sale dropped in October in the Fort Myers region, showing that the single family housing market is making inroads towards becoming balanced. There were 7,609 homes listed for sale at the end of October, which would take eight months to sell.
The National Association of Realtors considers a market in balance when it has six months inventory listed for sale. The Fort Myers area, which includes the City of Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres has had a roughly close inventory of homes on the market for three straight months.
Some 7,495 single family homes were listed for sale in September, a close 7,562 homes listed in August and 7,609 in October. The narrow margin indicates that the region’s single family housing market is making strong inroads towards a balance as the winter selling season approaches and the Fort Myers home inventory drops.
The Covid pandemic saw the lowest number of homes listed for sale on the market in December 2021 when many people were afraid to have others in their homes. Some 3,385 were listed for sale in the Fort Myers area but this is regarded as an artificial bottom with the pandemic. It was also a very busy time for the local housing market as newcomers moved to the area in growing numbers as a result of being able to work remotely, choosing the warmth and sunshine of Southwest Florida to make their new home.
Snowbirds, which are one of the market’s major drivers typically return to the area in November to make more home purchases. The number of snowbirds from Canada decreased last winter after the Trump administration implemented new tax tariffs on Canadian goods. Canada is the U.S. largest trading partner and more Canadians own U.S. property than any other foreigners.
A drop in mortgage rates has resulted from the Federal Reserve’s two successive rate cuts, which is slowly stimulating the housing market. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.22% last week, according to the Freddie Mac survey.
“On a median-priced home, this could allow a homebuyer to save thousands annually compared to earlier this year, showing that affordability is slowly improving,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. Rates have been roughly a half-point lower than a year ago after the Fed dropped rates for two straight meetings.
The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 5.50%, up from last week when it averaged 5.41%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year mortgage averaged 6.00%.
As the home inventory drops, the lower number of homes listed for sale is good news for the housing market. The average price for a home in the area is one of the lowest in the state of Florida, running around $310,000. Affordable housing is a major issue for first time home buyers and those seeking homeownership moving to an area.
The city of Fort Myers and the surrounding area, including Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral have seen a huge upturn in new residents for more than a decade as new businesses open and industries move to the area. Nearly a half a million new residents have moved to Florida since the beginning of the year.