Geri and Bob Quinn

One year later, the impact of Hurricane Ian is still being felt in our area as repairs to homes, condos and businesses continue and more stories about contractor fraud emerge. The financial hit to individual homeowners and condo associations who lost large sums of money to scam artists in the aftermath of Ian is heartbreaking.

On the ground, we are continuing to see a steady flow of property owners choosing to sell and move away for a variety of reasons, many of which loop back to Hurricane Ian in one form or another. Rising property taxes, especially for non-Homesteaded homeowners, and rising insurance costs combined with the headaches many have experienced in dealing with contractors and insurance companies, are forcing some to sell. Fortunately, we also continue to see a lot of people from elsewhere looking to move here, however, the recent spike up in mortgage rates above 7% and questions about insurance are causing some buyers to hit the pause button.

To be sure, Hurricane Ian created some incredible challenges to our real estate market and the impacts will be felt for years to come. However, as we have noted in this column numerous times in the past 18 months, the serious and rapid policy shift to higher interest rates by the Federal Reserve beginning in March 2022, to fight the out-of-control “transitory” inflation, had already changed our market well before Ian shifted and roared through Southwest Florida. Basically, our real estate market peaked somewhere around April 2022, and started softening from there.

The correlation between the shift in the Fed’s monetary policy and the shift in our condo market is revealing. Back on Jan. 4, 2022, there were only 37 condos listed for sale through a Realtor in the Cape with 70 condos under contract with buyers as pending sales. On April 5, 2022, we had 53 active condo listings and 124 pending sales. Just weeks before Ian on Sept. 6, 2022, we were up to 162 condo listings on the market and down to 64 pending sales, as the Fed continued to jack-up rates.

Fast forward to this Tuesday, Sept. 26, and there were 299 active listings in the MLS for Cape Coral condos at list prices ranging from $135,000 to $3.9 million. The second lowest priced condo was at $155,000 and the second highest priced condo was at $1.75 million. The median list price for condos in the Cape came in at $317,900 and there are currently 94 condo listings at $275,000 and below, with 19 of these units priced below $200,000. At the other end of our price spectrum there are a total of 52 condos priced at $500,000 and above, with 9 of these units listed at $1 million and up.

We currently have 63 Cape Coral condos under contract with buyers as pending sales at prices ranging from $150,000 to $655,000. Most notable is the fact that there are only two “luxury” condos, which we define as $500,000 and above in the Cape, under contract versus the 52 active listings in this segment. With a current median pending sales price of $275,000 for Cape Coral condos, half of the 63 contracts to purchase a condo are priced below $275,000 in contrast to the current median list price of $317,900. A total of 46 of the 63 pending sales, or 73% of our condo market, are under contract at $325,000 or less.

In the overall Cape condo market, there were 30 closed sales in the month of August, which was 47.4% lower than the 57 closed condo sales in August of 2022, and 3.2% below the 31 sales in July of this year. In the first eight months of this year, there were a total of 364 condos sold overall in the Cape, which was down 30.3% from the 522 condo units sold in the first eight months of 2022.

The August median sales price was $272,250 for the overall Cape condo market, which was 1.0% below the $275,000 posted in August 2022, and 4.5% less than the $285,000 in July of this year. In the first eight months of 2023, the median sales price averaged $282,403 per month in our overall condo market, which was 2.7% above the average of $275,031 per month in the first eight months of 2022.

Gulf access canal condos

In the Cape Coral gulf access canal condo segment, which includes all “saltwater” canal condos, there were 15 closed sales in August, which was 34.8% lower than the 23 condos sold in August 2022, but 66.7% above the 9 sales in July of this year. In the first eight months of 2023, a total of 167 saltwater condos were sold, which was 29.8% less than the 238 sales in the first eight months of 2022.

The August median sales price came in at $290,000 for the Cape’s saltwater canal condo segment, which was 13.4% below the $335,000 posted in August of 2022, and 30.1% lower than the $415,000 in July of this year. In the first eight months of 2023, the median sales price averaged $347,301 per month, or 4.5% higher than the average of $332,188 per month in the first eight months of 2022.

Direct sailboat access canal condos

In the Cape Coral direct sailboat access canal condo segment, which is a subgroup of gulf access condos where boaters have no bridges to go under in the canal system, there were 7 closed sales in August. This was down 41.7% from the 12 condos sold in August 2022, and even with the 7 units sold in July of this year. In the first eight months of 2023, a total of 93 direct sailboat access canal condos were sold in the Cape, which was 38% below the 150 sales in the first eight months of 2022.

The August median sales price came in at $355,000 for direct sailboat access canal condos, which was 8.3% below the $387,000 posted in August 2022, and down 21.9% from $449,900 in July of this year. In the first eight months of 2023, the median sales price in this segment averaged $391,231 per month, or 5.3% higher than the average of $371,588 per month in the first eight months of 2022.

Dry lot condos

In the Cape Coral dry lot (non-canal) condo segment, there were 13 closed sales in August, which was 53. % lower than the 28 condos sold in August 2022, and 18.8% below the 16 sales in July of this year. In the first eight months of 2023, there were a total of 160 dry lot condos sold in the Cape, which was 32.8% below the 238 dry lot condo units sold in the first eight months of 2022.

The August median sales price was $242,000 for the Cape’s dry lot condo segment, which was 7.5% higher than the $225,200 posted in August 2022, and 5.8% above the $228,750 in July of this year. In the first eight months of 2023, the median sales price for dry lot condos in the Cape averaged $245,274 per month, or 7.4% more than the average of $228,472 per month in the first eight months of 2022.

The sales data for this article was obtained from the Florida Realtors Multiple Listing Service Matrix for Lee County, Fla., as of Sept. 25, 2023, unless otherwise noted. It was compiled by Bob and Geri Quinn and it includes information specifically for Cape Coral condominiums, townhouses, and villas, and it does not include any single family homes, 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 44 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.