by Mike Colpitts 
Home sales rose for the third straight month in May in Fort Myers and surrounding communities as the pace of sales topped the previous month, according to data from the Royal Palm Coast Association of Realtors.
Some 1,962 single family homes, condos, townhouses and manufactured homes sold during the month, topping the 1,906 that sold in April in Lee County. The increase is a healthy sign for the housing market as it moves into the summer selling season, which is typically the busiest time of the year for residential real estate.
The volume of sales in Lee County, which includes Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach and North Fort Myers rose as the prices on homes sold continued to decline slightly.
Home prices peaked in the Fort Myers area five months before Hurricane Ian hit the region in September 2022. Home prices have been falling ever since, marking almost three years that the housing market has been declining.
The drop in home prices has triggered a return to a healthy level of residential sales, with nearly a 50% increase in single family home, manufactured home and townhouse sales since February. Home sales rose for three straight months in May. Fort Myers home values peaked in October 2022 when the median price reached $359,500, according to MLS data.
The increase in housing prices during the boom is like many other areas of the country, especially warmer coastal climates where the demand for housing is high. In April the median price declined to $339,00 in Fort Myers. Higher priced areas in Lee County have seen even larger price drops, including Fort Myers Beach, where some homes have sold for 40 to 50% less than their original asking prices.
The drop in home prices had been expected after the Federal Reserve embarked on its interest rate raising move. Mortgage rates began to stabilize recently after the Fed halted hiking rates for four successive sessions.
The 30-year fixed rate mortgage has remained fairly stable for several months hovering around the 6.50% to 6.75% rate attracting more home buyers to the market. It averaged 6.89% as of May 29, 2025 in the Freddie Mac survey. A year ago it was 7.03%.