It is time once again for our quarterly tip of the hat to Robin Leach, the late host of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” as we offer up a toast of champagne wishes and caviar dreams by taking a look back at the Cape Coral luxury home market in the third quarter of 2020. For our purposes, this high-end single-family luxury home market segment in the Cape consists of homes that have sold for $1 million and up. 

First, to set the table, there have been a total of 4,264 single-family homes sold in Cape Coral in the first nine months of 2020, and 34 of these sales, or 0.8 percent of the total sales in the Cape, have been in our $1 million-plus luxury home segment. Three homes in the Cape have been sold for over $2 million so far this year, with the highest-priced home sale through the end of September coming in at $2.225 million back on June 25. This compares to the first nine months of 2019, when a total of 4,091 single-family homes had been sold in Cape Coral, including 30 homes, or 0.73 percent of the total sales, taking place in our luxury home segment.

In addition, during the first nine months of 2019, there was only one home sold for more than $2 million in the Cape, coming in at $2.35 million, or 5.62 percent more than the top sale so far in 2020. The median sales price in the Cape’s luxury home segment for the 34 closed sales in the first nine months of 2020, was $1,172,500 or 0.42 percent less than the median sales price of $1,177,500 for the 30 closed luxury home sales over the first nine months of 2019. 

In the recently completed third quarter of this year, there have been a total of 12 luxury homes sold in the Cape at prices from $1 million and above, with the highest priced sale of the quarter closing at $1.795 million on Sept. 25. This compares to 14 luxury home sales in the third quarter of 2019, with the highest-priced sale of that quarter closing at $1.995 million in September of last year. In the third quarter of 2020, the median sales price for the 12 closed luxury home sales came in at $1.225 million or 1.03 percent higher than the median sales price of $1,212,500 for the 14 closed luxury home sales in the Cape during the third quarter of 2019. 

Before we highlight the specifics of the Cape’s highest-priced luxury home sale in the third quarter of this year, here is an update on the numbers for our current active listings and pending sales for Cape Coral single-family homes. As of Oct. 13, there were a total of 698 homes listed for sale through the Multiple Listing Service at prices ranging from a low of $162,900 to a high of $3.995 million. Of these 698 active listings, a total of 44 homes, or 6.3 percent of our market are currently listed for sale at prices above $1 million. If we include short sales and foreclosures in our numbers, the active listings rise to 705 and the two lowest-priced foreclosure homes in the Cape are currently listed for $137,000 and $157,500.  

There are also 1,229 homes under contract with buyers as pending sales in the Cape, with 10 of these pending sales, or 0.81 percent of the pipeline, currently falling into our luxury home segment at prices ranging from $1.05 million to $2.95 million. Although the final sales prices often come in somewhat below the pending prices, we appear on track to have the highest priced home sale of 2020 occur in the fourth quarter of this year. Also, the strong pipeline of pending home sales, most of which are likely to be finalized as closed sales within the next 30 to 60 days, is pointing towards another record year for Cape Coral home sales.

As we mentioned above, the highest priced home sold in Cape Coral during the third quarter of this year was for a direct sailboat access home in the Yacht Club section of the Southeast Cape, which was built in 2019. There is an interesting backstory to this sale with a different twist to it, in that the original home that was located on this prime canal lot was a small, old, 1960s built home which was demolished to make way for building a new and much larger custom-built, contemporary style home. Although it is not uncommon for people to buy old homes in this neighborhood and then tear them down to build a new home, the twist was that the owner of this original 1960s built home had it torn down so they could sell the property as a vacant lot, figuring the land in the Yacht Club area would be worth more without the old home sitting on it.

Here is how the deals transpired. The owner of the 1960s built home actually listed the property for sale as a vacant lot for $329,000 in January 2018, while the old home was still present. According to the records, they pulled a demolition permit to tear down the home on Feb. 22, 2018, after the property had gone under contract with a buyer as a pending vacant lot sale on Feb. 15, 2018. The seller then proceeded to tear down the old home and the sale of the vacant lot was closed on May 14, 2018, at a final sales price of $290,000. This sales price was $39,000 or 11.85 percent below the original list price for the vacant lot.     

The buyer of this now vacant direct sailboat access canal lot then took out a new building  construction permit in November 2018, to build a three-bedroom plus a den, 4 1/2-bathroom, luxury home with 3,812 square feet of living area and 6,273 square feet of total area. The permit for the resort style pool and spa was taken out in June 2019, and the home was eventually listed for sale on March 4 of this year for $1.895 million. The seller decreased their price by $100,000 or by 5.28 percent to $1.795 on June 26, with the home going under contract with a buyer as a pending sale on Aug. 20. The sale was finalized as a closed sale at $1.795 million on Sept. 25.

In addition to the details mentioned above, the property description from the Multiple Listing Service indicated that this custom built home featured 25-foot ceilings in the living room, a glass encased floating wine wall, and 20-foot pocketing corner sliding glass doors to the outdoor living space and pool area. The modern kitchen featured custom cabinets with level four quartz waterfall countertops, and a coffee bar. The first floor master suite overlooks the water, while a one-of-a-kind quartz floating staircase leads to the second floor bedrooms, including a second guest master suite, with balconies overlooking the water. There is also an 80-foot captain’s walk wrap-around dock with a covered 16,000 pound boat lift, all just minutes to the river. It truly sounds like a Cape Coral dream home that Robin Leach would have enjoyed!  

(The sales data for this article, unless otherwise noted, was obtained from the Florida Realtors Multiple Listing Service Matrix for Lee County, Fla., as of Oct. 12, 2020. It was compiled by Bob and Geri Quinn and it includes information specifically 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 estate team with the RE/MAX Realty Team office in Cape Coral. They have lived in Cape Coral for over 41 years. Geri has been a full-time Realtor since 2005, and Bob joined Geri as a full-time Realtor in 2014. Their real estate practice is mainly focused on Cape Coral residential property and vacant lots.)