The percentage of “traditional” sales — those that are neither bank-owned nor short sales — made up 52.34 percent of all transactions involving members of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers during June, 2011. The higher selling prices of traditional homes are helping to boost the area’s overall median price, which increased 9.14 percent in June to $101,500 from $93,000 a year ago. This is the fifth month in a row that the median price has been above $92,000.
“The market indicators are up across the board,” said Gary Verwilt, association president. “For the past three months the median price has remained above $100,000, due largely in part to the fact that traditional properties have been the majority of our single home sales, which is very good news.”
The lower median price of foreclosures and short sales — which made up 47.66 percent of all sales in June — does continue to negatively influence the overall median price. The median price for bank-owned sales in Quarter 2 (April-June) is $69,900 and the median price for short sales is $84,000, while the median price for “traditional’ existing homes sold is $148,000.
The number of single family homes sold in June is 1,233 — down 8.05 percent from June, 2010; however, last June marked the end of the federal homebuyer tax credit.
The number of sales transactions, plus a decrease in the number of new listings, has resulted in another drop in the inventory of single family homes available for purchase. The inventory of single family homes declined by 2,323 homes (33.20 percent) from last June and now stands at 4,675. This is a slight increase from May, 2011, when our inventory was 4,656 homes. Pending sales — those under contract and awaiting closing — are 124.24 percent higher than last June. The 3,386 homes that went under contract in June are only 85 homes lower than the prior month, leaving a 1.4-month supply of single family homes.
The numbers reported by the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc. represent all sales by members of the Association, not necessarily those sales strictly in Lee County. Note that statistics released each month may be revised in the future as new data is received.