Neal Communities donates more than $26,000 to the 24th Annual BIG Backpack Event

Neal Communities, a private homebuilder, and its trade partners raised a record $26,375 as the presenting sponsor of the 24th Annual BIG Backpack Event on July 30

Hosted by the Multicultural Centre of Southwest Florida, the annual BIG Backpack Event provided 2,500 backpacks filled with school supplies and groceries to area families with children ages 5 to 12 More than 200 volunteers, including Neal Communities’ employees and trade partners, assisted with packing supplies and distribution at the event, which took place in a drive-thru at the Fort Myers Skatium

This was the eighth consecutive year that Neal Communities was the presenting sponsor of the BIG Backpack Event, and this year’s dona- tion was the largest to date collected by the homebuilder With a core belief that “Where You Live Matters,” Neal Communities has given more than $7 75 million to local charities throughout Southwest Florida and is committed to the communities where they live, work and build Other event sponsors this year included the City of Fort Myers, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Lee County School District, CONRIC pr + marketing, HABA, Macaroni KID and Midwest Foods

For more information about the Multicultural Centre of Southwest Florida, visit www MulticulturalCentre org For more information about Neal Communities, visit www NealCommunities com

Trauma of Ian: Normal homeowner life cycle impacted by storm

From page 14 an list price came in at $525,000 A year ago on Aug 8, 2022, there were 1,397 active listings in Cape Coral at prices ranging from $254,900 to $5.995 million and the median list price was at $524,900 Back then, there were 324 homes listed at $400,000 and under versus 418 homes right now, and there were 182 homes listed at $1 million and above a year ago versus 223 homes today

The number of homes currently under contract with a buyer as a pending sale dipped to 764 this week from 786 last week Current pending sales range in price from $150,000 for a small storm damaged home in need of repairs to $2.59 million and the median pending sales price is $395,597 There are 422 pending sales priced at $400,000 and 28 priced at $1 million and above On Aug 9, 2022, there were 707 pending home sales in the pipeline in Cape Coral at prices ranging from $219,900 to $2 85 million, with 327 of those pending sales priced at $400,000 and under, and 30 priced at $1 million and above.

Based on the preliminary numbers for the overall Cape Coral single-family home market in the month of July, in the first 7 months of this year there have been 3,121 closed home sales, which is down 23 7 percent compared to the 4,088 sales in the first 7 months of 2022 By comparison, back in 2019 we posted 3,159 closed home sales in the first 7 months of that year In the COVID-impacted year of 2020, we had 3,141 sales over 7 months, followed by a record number of 4,246 sales in the first 7 months of 2021 So basically, we have returned to the more normal, pre-COVID seasonal market patterns where sales slow down a bit in the summer months.

For their part, the median sales price for single-family homes in the overall Cape Coral market continues to hang in there They have dropped from the single month record high of $470,000 for our overall market back in April 2022, while treading water in 2023 between $400,000 and $420,000 After the first 7 months of this year, the average median sales price was $414,789 per month, down only 3 5 percent from the average of $430,000 per month in the first 7 months of 2022 By comparison, after the first 7 months of 2019 the average median sales price was $243,305 per month, followed by an average of $254,557 per month in 2020 In 2021, the average median home sales price in the first 7 months of that year jumped to $322,014 per month before surging even higher in 2022, as noted above

The sales data for this article was o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e F l o r i d a R e a l t o r s Multiple Listing Service Matrix for Lee County, FL, as of Aug 7, 2023, unless otherwise noted. It was compiled by Bob and Geri Quinn and it includes information specifically for Cape Coral singlefamily 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 estate team with the R E / M A X R e a l t y T e a m o f f i c e i n C a p e Coral They have lived in Cape Coral for over 43 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 C a p e C o r a l r e s i d e n t i a l p r o p e r t y a n d vacant lots