Geri and Bob Quinn

This week we are taking our first deeper look at the Cape Coral luxury home market since we were hit by Hurricane Ian, with a somber tip of the hat to Robin Leach in our local version of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” We will be featuring a look back at the Cape’s high-end single-family home market segment for the recently completed first quarter of 2023 compared to the first three months of both 2022 and 2021. At this time one year ago, our luxury home market was absolutely booming with a record number of closed sales registered from January through March 2022. For our purposes, the Cape Coral single-family luxury home segment consists of homes that have sold for $1 million and above.

We will begin with a look back to the first three months of last year, when the overall Cape Coral single-family home market posted a scorching hot all-time first quarter record of 1,745 closed sales. That topped the previous record of 1,577 homes sold in the Cape during the first quarter of 2021 by 10.7 percent, with most homes in the first quarter of 2022 going under contract with a buyer in just a matter of days after being listed for sale, and often in multiple offer bidding wars at full-price or higher.

By contrast, in the first quarter of this year there have been a total of 1,190 closed home sales in the overall Cape Coral market, which is down 31.8 percent from last year, but up 38 percent from the immediate post-hurricane Ian decline to only 862 closed home sales in the fourth quarter of 2022. This places the current first quarter sales results in our overall single-family home market between the 1,080 closed sales in the first quarter of 2019 and the 1,242 closed sales from the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 shutdowns started taking effect in Florida in mid-March of 2020.

Getting back to our luxury home market, there were 61 closed sales in the first quarter of this year, which was a decline of 47 percent versus the record number of 115 closed home sales in the Cape at $1 million and above in the first quarter of 2022. By comparison, back in the first quarter of 2021 there were 44 closed luxury home sales. The highest-priced Cape Coral home sale in the first quarter of 2022 came in at $4.3 million versus the top sales price of $3.25 million in the first quarter of this year. The median sales price in the Cape’s $1 million-plus luxury home segment was $1.24 million in the first quarter of this year, which was 8.1 percent below the median sales price of $1.35 million posted in the first quarter of 2022. So prices have eased a bit in our luxury market year-over-year in the first quarter.

In looking at the makeup of the Cape Coral single-family home market, the 61 closed sales in the million dollar-plus luxury home segment equals a 5.1 percent market share of the total number of 1,190 closed sales in the first quarter of this year. This compares to the first quarter of 2022, when the 115 closed million dollar-plus home sales equaled a 6.6 percent market share of the 1,748 overall closed sales in the Cape. This was a 22 percent decline year-over-year in market share for our luxury home segment. However, the 5.1 percent market share of million dollar-plus home sales in the first quarter of this year was still well above the 2.8 percent market share posted in the first quarter of 2021, when there were 44 closed sales in our luxury home segment out of the 1,577 total first quarter sales in our overall market. For the record, back in 2020 there were only 12 first quarter sales in our luxury home segment which equaled a 0.97 percent market share. This market share sales data is another way to illustrate the expansion in home prices since 2020.

Next, here is a look at the current number of active listings through the Multiple Listing Service. As of Tuesday, April 11, there were a total of 1,461 active listings through a Realtor for single-family homes in the Cape at prices ranging from $240,000 to $4.15 million, with 208 of these listings priced at $1 million and above. Looking back one year ago on April 12, 2022, there were a total of 519 active listings in the MLS for Cape Coral single-family homes, with 95 of those listings priced at $1 million and above. So in the last 12 months we have seen a rapid expansion in the overall number of homes being listed for sale in the Cape almost tripling, while the number of luxury homes being listed for sale priced at $1 million and above has more than doubled.

As far as the number of Cape Coral homes currently under contract with buyers as pending sales are concerned, as of April 11 there were 915 overall pending sales ranging in price from $175,000 to $3.9 million in the pipeline waiting to be finalized as closed sales. This includes 48 homes under contract at $1 million and above, which equals a market share of 5.2 percent of all pending sales in the Cape. So this is just a tick above, and largely in line with the 5.1 percent first quarter market share of closed luxury home sales as noted in the fourth paragraph of this column. One year ago on April 12, 2022, there were 1,024 single-family homes in the Cape under contract with buyers as pending sales, with 83 of these pending sales priced at $1 million and above, equaling a market share of 8.1 percent.

The highest-priced closed home sale in Cape Coral during the first quarter of this year was for a 4,380-square-foot home built in 2021 on Bayshore Avenue in the Yacht Club area of the Southeast Cape. This was a contemporary custom-built home on a direct sailboat access canal located a short distance from the river that was listed for sale on Nov. 22, 2022, for $3.25 million and it went under contract with the buyer on Dec. 14, with the sale being finalized at full price on Jan. 12 of this year. The home was sold turnkey in a cash deal and it featured six bedrooms, including a primary suite with a luxurious bathroom and his and hers boutique closets, along with three separate guest ensuites and two other bedrooms, plus two additional bonus rooms. The home has 5 full bathrooms and two half bathrooms. The gourmet kitchen featured brilliant blue base cabinets with Quartz Calacatta Monticello countertops and crisp white upper cabinets, along with a large center island, and an oversized wine display case. The outdoor entertaining space has a covered grill area and multiple seating areas, along with an open air pool and spa, and a new dock.

According to the records, the current seller bought this home unfurnished about a year ago for $2.725 million in March 2022. Back then, the home was initially listed for $3 million on Dec. 31, 2021, and the price was reduced to $2.875 million on Feb. 15, 2022. The previous seller paid $240,000 for the property back in January 2019, when it included a 1,433-square-foot home built back in 1964. A demolition permit was pulled on this property in June 2019, followed by a permit for new construction in May 2020, and a new pool and spa permit in January 2021.

We expect to see the continued total transformation of the Yacht Club area with new homes replacing the older, smaller and severely damaged homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

The sales data for this article was obtained from the Florida Realtors Multiple Listing Service Matrix for Lee County, Fla., as of April 8, 2023, unless otherwise noted. 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 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 Cape Coral residential property and vacant lots.