It has been nearly a decade since the Cape Coral housing market reached record-high levels of home sales, ownership, property values, and mortgage approvals. Everyone knows what happened next: After years of a real estate bonanza, the American housing market suffered a spectacular crash that triggered the recession and global financial crisis.
Cape Coral became infamous as one of the hardest-hit housing market in the United States. After years of mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, abandoned neighborhoods, and a gloomy local economy, Cape Coral is has been seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
From 2008 to 2013, real estate sales in Cape Coral was mostly restricted to opportunistic cash buyers who took advantage of distressed properties listed at rock-bottom prices. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers market was often at the top of lists compiled by real estate analytics firms such as CoreLogic, which keep track of cash closings. These days, Cape Coral ranks below Sarasota and Palm Beach in terms of real estate cash purchases, and there is a resurgence of first-time home buyers applying for mortgages.
How Cape Coral is Recovering
The housing market situation has improved tremendously in Cape Coral, but it can still be considered a buyer’s market. House hunters are spoiled, and they are looking for new construction deals. Thankfully, analysts believe that mortgage applicants these days are more likely to qualify for financing than a few years ago; one of the reasons for this turnaround is the employment rate, which is a lot better than it used to be after 2008.
Cape Coral offers a great deal of opportunity to home buyers in terms of waterfront properties, affordable homes and future construction. Aside from first-time home buyers, local real estate agents are getting inquiries related to properties that have access to the Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf of Mexico; these inquiries are typically from boaters who have already shopped for home in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Figures released by the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach indicate that there were nearly 2,600 home sales in the first six months of 2015, which represents a nine percent increase over the previous year. The median price of $173K is rapidly rising.
There is also a great deal of interest by property investors who have been following the rental market in the last few years. It is not unusual for a three-bedroom home in Cape Coral to rent for $1,500 per month, which is a 50 percent increase over the last two years. To this effect, the concept of a monthly mortgage payment being cheaper than renting is once again valid.
With regard to the mortgage market, analysts are forecasting a flurry of applications in the next few months. This projected spike can be explained by the recent comments made by Federal Reserve officials, who have hinted at the possibility of raising interest rates before the end of the year.
Cape Coral Mortgage, Inc.
3512 Del Prado Blvd. S.
Cape Coral, Fl. 33931
(239) 540 5555
