Turn a backyard into your own relaxing respite
Backyards have long been places to unwind and enjoy some peace and quiet surrounded by nature.
forgo traditional vacations in favor of staying home this season. some ways to accomplish that goal.
Incorporate a water featureThe sound of trickling or bubbling water can make surroundings more serene. A low-maintenance water feature can help to create a calming ambiance. A fountain that does not require a collection pond will reduce the chance it becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Locating the fountain out of the sun can keep algae growth at a minimum.
Add lights for ambiance
wired lights on the home itself or accent lighting that draws attention to trees or architectural structures on the property. It have for any outdoor retreat. Lights come in all types and price
decorative planters and then string lights between the posts. This way the lighting can be moved around as desired.
PROPERTY TRANSFERS
Source: Lee County Property Appraiser
PROPERTY TRANSFERS
Source: Lee County Property Appraiser
There’s a buyer for your home at the right price
Before we take a deep dive into this week’s market analysis, we want to be clear that there are still homes being sold in our market and we are still seeing the all-important seasonal interest from out-of-town buyers. Of note, however, an overabundance of new homes and existing home inventory out there for buyers to choose from. So buyers are able to get some really good deals right now if they are ready to make an o er and buy a home.
At the same time, as we show in the numbers below, the seasonal buyer activity is clearly o to a slower start than last year while the number of active listings continues to rise. With fewer buyers and a higher supply of homes for sale on the market, we have what is, at least for now, a growing imbalance in the supply-demand ratios, meaning sellers need to be acutely aware of the weak hand they are holding. Unless we see a rapid intensi cation in buyer activity over the next three months or so, measurable through the number of pending sales and closed home sales, we would expect to see some continued downside pressure on home prices.
Basically, as a seller, if you want to do more than list your home for sale and let it sit on the market unsold with the other 3,400-plus sellers right now in the Cape, you will likely need to be more aggressive with your asking price than you had planned. is is assuming you actually need or want to get your home sold. Similar to what we were advising sellers last year, the sooner you get your price right and attract an o er from an interested, quali ed buyer and go under contract, the higher the price you are likely to receive for your home.
Please do not misinterpret what we are trying to tell you here. e “higher price” we are talking about is probably going to be less than what you were expecting, but more about what you can get for your home today. Because of the glut of homes on the market, the price you can get today may very well be more than you will get three months from now, and three months a er that. Sellers who were quicker to gure this out last year ended up getting a lot more money for their homes than sellers who were slow to react to the so ening market. It is looking like the same thing will be happening again this year. Just look around and you will see sellers who have been in denial about declining values as their homes sit there unsold.
Here is an example of what we are seeing regarding the slower pace of home sales. We are now moving a bit deeper into what has historically been our peak home selling season from January through May when buyer activity ramps up. Fortunately, we are seeing an increase in the number of homes going under contract with buyers as pending sales, which will lead to more closed sales in the next 30 to 45 days and beyond, but so far we are clearly lagging behind last year’s numbers. About 13 months ago back on Jan. 1, 2024, there were 427 pending home sales in the pipeline for Cape Coral single-family homes, and by Jan. 29, 2024, the number of pending home sales had increased by 40.3% to 599 homes under contract. e number of pending home sales continued to accelerate throughout last season, reaching 872 homes under contract with buyers by April 23, 2024, for an increase of 104% from Jan. 1, 2024. is year, on Jan. 1, 2025, there were only 378 pending home sales in the pipeline, or 11.5% fewer than the previous year. By Jan. 29 of this year the pending home sales were up by 31% to 495 homes under contract, but that is 17.4% below the 599 pending sales on Jan. 29, 2024. So our seasonal demand has picked up, but it is running well below the buyer demand we saw a year ago.
ily home market will be coming in about 10% to 11% below the $420,000 posted for the month of January 2024. Looking back at last year, median home sales prices dri ed steadily lower a er spending the rst four months of 2024 in a fairly tight monthly range between $400,000 to $420,000. en from May through December 2024, median sales prices so ened, ranging from a high of $395,000 to a low of $379,450 with the 12-month average median sales price settling in at $396,827. Going back to 2023, median sales prices ranged from $400,000 to $420,000 for eight months of that year, with prices easing just a bit below $400,000 in August, October and November, before dipping to $389,945 in December 2023. e 12-month average median sales price in the overall Cape Coral single-family home market in 2023 came in at $407,158. We are looking like we will begin 2025 with a median sales price of around $375,000 in January, for the lowest January price in the past four years.
By comparison the preliminary median sales price for this January is still up $133,500 or some 55.3% higher than the median sales price of $241,500 posted back in January 2019. By the same token, this January’s median sales price is down $95,000 or 20.2% below the all-time single month high median sales price of $470,000 in the Cape’s overall single-family home market, which was reached in April 2022. is peak in median sales prices just happened to coincide with when the Federal Reserve launched its war on in ation in March 2022, as it started to jack up the Federal Funds Rate, ultimately leading to sharply higher interest rates on home mortgage loans. One could make the argument that there is still some le over froth remaining in our home values that needs to be worked o from the post-COVID market boom years. e hurricane fatigue from Ian, Debby, Helene and Milton is also weighing on our market as a growing number of retirees are wanting to throw in the towel on living in our tropical paradise and sell their homes. So there still seems to be the potential for some downside risk to home prices. For now, the longstanding real estate maxim of “location, location, location,” meaning that a property’s geographical location is considered to be the single most important factor in uencing its value and desirability, is being replaced by the key element in our current market, which is “price, price and price.”
As sellers try to gure out what it will take to get their homes sold, we would point out three things. First, there is a buyer for every home at the right price. Second, a home is only worth what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller and no more. And third, in a di cult market, “price xes everything.”
The sales data for this article was obtained from the Florida Realtors Multiple Listing Service Matrix for Lee County, Fla., as of Jan. 29, 2025, unless otherwise noted. It was compiled -
cally for Cape Coral single-family homes, and does not include condominiums, short sales or foreclosures. The data and statistics are believed to be reliable, however, they could be updated and revised periodically, and are subject to change without notice. The Quinns are a husband and wife real
lived in Cape Coral for over 45 years. Geri has been a full-time Realtor since 2005, and Bob joined with Geri as a full-time Realtor in 2014. Their real estate practice is mainly focused on Cape Coral residential property and vacant lots.
On the other side of this buyer-seller equation, the number of Cape Coral homes being listed for sale this season has also continued to increase. Based on our weekly market surveys, looking back to Jan. 1, 2024, there were 2,442 single-family homes listed for sale in the Cape through the MLS. By Jan. 29 of last year, the active listings rose by 304 homes or 12.4% to 2,746 homes on the market. On Jan. 1 of this year, there were 3,044 active listings for Cape Coral single-family homes through the MLS, which is up 24.7% from Jan. 1, 2024. As of Jan. 29 of this year, the number of active listings had increased to 3,445 homes, up 13.2% since Jan. 1, and equalling 1,003 more homes on the market now versus Jan. 1, 2024, for an increase in listings of 41.1% in the past 13 months. Unless we see a rapid intensi cation in the number of homes going under contract with buyers in the next three months, this imbalance of too much supply and not enough demand is likely to keep additional downward pressure on home values and sales prices. is is something that sellers need to pay close attention to as they try to attract a buyer.
Based on the preliminary numbers for the recently completed month of January, it looks like the median sales price for the overall Cape Coral single-fam-
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Fri. 2/7/2025 11-2pm 1201 SE 5th St Cape Coral, FL 33990 $445,000
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Sat. 2/8/2025 2-4:30pm 2926 SW 1st Ave, Cape Coral, FL 33914 $395,000 Dianna Scarano Experience Real Estate Group
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$499,000 Lindsey Svarczkopf Coldwell Banker Realty
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