Sailors relish the idea of docking their boat on a lift behind their home…..no fighting traffic to get to the marina……no waiting for the launch to the mooring……no incredibly expensive per foot charges for dockage.  While sailboat access homes are out of reach financially in many parts of Florida, Cape Coral is the outlier with truly affordable sailboat access real estate.

Today, there are more than 50 single-family sailboat access homes for sale in Cape Coral with an asking price under $300,000.  Some of the sailboat access homes in this price range have been updated and many need some freshening up, but at the end of the day they are not building anymore sailboat access lots in Southwest Florida.

Here is a resource to view active Cape Coral sailboat access real estate listings.  We have a long-time Cape Coral yachtsman on our team and can help you narrow and define your search for a sailboat access property.

Urban infill development is getting hot across the country.  Driven by high gas prices and smaller and less traditional families, Americans are rediscovering the benefits of living in a walkable urban environment.  USA Today covered this phenomena earlier this week in an article titled Subdivisions go urban as housing market changes.  A noteworthy paragraph from the article and one that gives me hope that interior of Florida from I-75 to I-95 won’t all be filled in with gated country clubs is:

“For the first time in history, Americans have stopped pushing development to the edge,” says Robert Lang, professor of urban affairs at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and author of Megapolitan America. “The shift is from the old crabgrass frontier to the new Main Street.”

The Fort Myers downtown core area is prime for significant infill development.  While the riverfront high-rises were a start, it has always been disappointing to me that a public riverwalk wasn’t a required element of these residential towers.  I do applaud the City of Fort Myers leaders for having the vision to continue with the streetscape improvement project despite the poor economy and also moving forward with the waterfront project.

There are many opportunities available in Fort Myers right now for private urban development.  The parcel on West First Street adjacent to Publix and High Point Place is a natural spot for new development…..hopefully First Street Village or something like it will eventually get built.  The site of the Ramada Inn on Edwards Drive is another natural spot just waiting for redevelopment.  If Lee County is unsuccessful in attracting the Washington Nationals or another baseball team to City of Palms Park, this would be a great spot for an outside-of-the-box-thinking redevelopment project…education…medical…..research.

A revitalized urban Fort Myers represents one of the brightest and best chances we have to create a better the future for this entire area.  I am hopeful that some of the deep-pocketed national developers that are currently building single-family homes in Fort Myers edge subdivisions will one day soon take a look inward for their next investment opportunity.

See larger image Megapolitan America: A New Vision for Understanding America's Metropolitan Geography (Hardcover) By (author) Arthur C. Nelson, Robert E. Lang List Price: $74.95 USD New From: $54.71 In Stock Used from: $54.75 In Stock

In a city with more canals than Venice, there are waterfront homes and condos for virtually any budget or lifestyle option.  Topping the charts of gulf access living are properties located directly on Cape Coral’s Spreader Canals.

Forming Cape Coral’s western boarder, the North and South Spreader Canals were developed in the 1970s as a means of diverting freshwater run-off from Cape Coral through mangroves rather than releasing it directly out to the Gulf.  The stands of mangroves, which are nearly 1/2 mile wide in some places along the spreader canals filter sheet flow runoff water and also provide peaceful and serene views for homes along the eastern banks of the spreader canals.

At 200 feet wide in some points, the Spreader Canals are among the widest waterways in Cape Coral.  The North Spreader Canal starts at Pine Island Road and runs seven miles northward to its termination just south of Caloosa Parkway.  The South Spreader Canal runs over six miles from just south of Miracle Parkway southward to the Caloosahatchee River near Tarpon Point.  There is a boat lift near Cape Harbour on the South Spreader and currently no lift on the North Spreader.

Real estate along the Spreader Canals is highly sought after and among the most desirable in Cape Coral.  Here are resources to view available South Spreader Canal and North Spreader Canal real estate listings.

Since its early beginnings, Cape Coral has been an attractive location for real estate investors.  With relatively affordable property prices, a tight rental inventory and a growing pool of renters,  it is possible for real estate investors to generate positive cash flow for their Cape Coral investments.

A big positive for investors is that much of the housing stock in Cape Coral is not inside the gates of a communities with high HOA fees that eat into investor returns.  Also, Cape Coral has aggressive code enforcement policies, which helps to protect the integrity of rental-intensive neighborhoods and your investment property.

Over the past couple of years, investors have been aggressively buying up lower-priced single-family homes in Cape Coral ad renting them out to the growing pool of residents that cannot currently qualify for a mortgage.  Investors are also attracted to Cape Coral multi-family property that is available throughout the city.  Duplex buildings with two or three bedrooms per side are also very popular for real estate investors in Cape Coral.

If you are interested in learning more about investment opportunities in Cape Coral, here is a resource to view the current inventory of active Cape Coral income properties currently listed for sale.

Captain & Tenille….Oreos and milk….Mario and Luigi…spaghetti and meatballs…some things just go together.  Here in the Southwest Florida, a home and pool are truly a natural fit.

Unlike northern climates and even much of Florida to our north, pools are a year-round amenity here in Southwest Florida.  With average annual temperatures in the mid-70s and with nearly 300 days a year of sunshine a year, virtually everyday is a pool day down here.

Currently, there are just over 600 pool homes on the market in Cape Coral.  The most expensive is a Cape Coral riverfront home featuring 7 BR / 11 BA  / 11,772 SF on Bayshore Drive listed for $5.395M and the least expensive is a 3 BR / 2 BA / 1,142 SF home on SE 4th Ave listed for $63,000.

If you are interested in a pool home in Cape Coral, here is a resource to view active Cape Coral pool home listings.

Leading Fort Myers real estate website greaterftmyers.com has a new look and extensive new capabilities designed to enhance the online experience for buyers and sellers of Fort Myers real estate.  The new design features left-hand navigation offering one-click access to hundreds of pre-defined searches highlighting both lifestyle and geographic real estate options in the Fort Myers area.

New capabilities built into the Greater Fort Myers website include super-sized listing photos, access to virtual tours, integrated tax records, property WalkScores, sharing of listings via social media and a host of listing detail data.  Searching options available to website users include a map search, polygon search, city, subdivision, zip code or MLS number.

The Greater Fort Myers Team would like to recognize the collaborative efforts of our long-time business partner Real Estate Webmasters in the development of this new website.  In particular, we would like to recognize REW employees Alex McNulty and Lee Vanhalderen for their stellar work on this project.

We hope you find www.greaterftmyers useful in your search for the perfect home or condo in Southwest Florida.  The Greater Fort Myers Team is available to offer information-rich, low-pressure  assistance with your real estate search.

In this era of expensive gasoline, ultra-long commutes from distant suburbs and an increased focus on walkability, Americans are fleeing suburbia for an urban lifestyle experience.  Many of our nation’s great cities are experiencing a revitalization of their urban cores as more people move into them and create a new vibrancy.  The Fort Myers area is also experiencing a growing interest in walkable urban neighborhoods.  This is great news for those of us that don’t want to see the entire center of Florida between I-75 and I-95 paved over with new developments in the coming decades.

Our pockets of urban lifestyle neighborhoods include the Fort Myers River District which encompasses the waterfront high-rise developments like High Point Place and the Oasis as well as restored Downtown projects like Earnhardt Condominiums and Patio De Leon.  Another River District urban gem is the Dean Park Historic District, one of Fort Myers’ early neighborhoods with many beautifully restored old Florida homes.

New urbanism has also been created in developments like the Residences at Coconut Point in Estero.  This project features upscale condos constructed above ground-floor retail in the largest shopping mall in the area.  This 290 condo development offers walking access to over 100 stores, 25 restaurants and even a movie theater.  A similar residential over retail condo development called the Strada at Mercato is available in Naples.

An urban lifestyle option is also available in the Cape Coral CRA district.  This area of Cape Coral located in the downtown section of the city offers walking access to many amenities including restaurants, clubs, a grocery store, fitness center, art galleries, medical facilities and parks.

In a recent ranking published by Inman News, the Fort Myers – Cape Coral market was ranked as the 7th best turn-around market in the nation.  Our area has been been recognized recently as a national leader in the housing market recovery by other publications including Trulia, CNN Money and AOL Real Estate.

The report utilized realtor dot com listing data and cited a year-over-year median list price increase of 18.27%.  Another key metric driving this national ranking was a drop of 24.59% in the median age of the available housing inventory.  The region’s 27.61% drop in available inventory was another factor contributing to this national acclaim.

Our team is seeing a significant influx of pre-retirement baby-boomers shopping for a new place in Southwest Florida.  Many view this year as the last time that they will be able to purchase an affordable second home in the Fort Myers area.

The absolute hottest sector of the market has been Fort Myers new construction opportunities.  Buyers are snapping up new homes in record numbers, many of which are being built by national builders in existing subdivisions.  In many cases, national builders were able to acquire the remaining house lots in an infrastructure-ready subdivisions at pennies on the dollar.  These astute land purchases have allowed the builders to favorably compete with discounted resale offerings.

The most expensive home to sell in Lee County, Florida during April 2012 was a gulf front property featuring a main house and guest cottage on Sanibel Island.  This 3,716 SF home is located at 3805 W Gulf Drive Sanibel, FL and features 4 BR / 4.5 BA.  The selling price was $4.0125M / $1,080 SF, which was 89% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtor Deborah B Smith of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty for closing this transaction.

Honorable mention for 2nd most expensive Lee County residential property sold in April 2012 was a single-family home in the Tichenors F H Silver King neighborhood  of Captiva.  This 4,477 SF gulf front home is located at 16238 Captiva Drive, Captiva, FL and features 5 BR / 4.5 BA .  The selling price was $3.87M / $864 SF, which was 97% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtor Fred G Newman of Royal Shell Real Estate, Inc. for closing this transaction.

In April 2012 there were 20 residential transactions in Lee County with a selling price of $1M or greater, down from 21 in March 2012 and up from 17 in February 2012, and 14 in January 2012.

Here is a resource if you are interested in learning more about Fort Myers luxury homes that are currently listed for sale.

One of the recreational gems in the Fort Myers area is Lakes Regional Park.  This 279-acre park owned and managed by Lee County offers residents a pristine spot to relax and enjoy the great Southwest Florida weather.  Young and old alike enjoy the Lakes Park attractions and amenities which include a miniature railroad, fragrance garden, rental boats, walking trails, water playgrounds and so much more.  Lakes Park is located of Gladiolus Drive, just west of US-41.

After visiting Lakes Park, many covet the chance to live near this recreational gem.  Lakes Park is bounded by Gladiolus Drive to the south, Summerlin Road to the west, Cypress Lake to the north and US-41 to the east and there are three residential communities located within this grid that offer walking, jogging or biking access to the park without crossing a main street.  These communities include:

• Reflection Key – condos and coach homes
• Reflection Lakes – single-family homes, carriage homes and town homes
• Riva Del Lago – high-rise condos

While not directly adjacent, there are also several developments located in the Gladiolus Drive and Summerlin Road corridors that are also very close to Lakes Park.

Reflection Isles Sawgrass Model

Prominent national builder Lennar Corporation has purchased the Reflection Isles community in Fort Myers and is taking major steps to finish this community.  Construction is currently underway to build the communities common amenities including a clubhouse, pool and tot lot.  Aptly named, this Daniels Corridor of Fort Myers community features 18 lakes and borders the 2,000-acre Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve

Lennar is building two series of single-family homes at Reflection Isles, an executive series with 1,340 – 2,529 SF currently starting at $199,990 and  estate homes with 2,361 – 3,814 SF currently starting at $304,990.

Here is a resource to learn more about this community and view active Reflection Isles real estate listings.  Our team here at Greater Fort Myers Real Estate has viewed all the new construction opportunities in the area and can help guide you through the process of buying a Fort Myers new construction home.

New casitas are currently under construction at Paseo in Fort Myers. After reading the headline and this first sentence, you are most likely thinking…..what the heck is a casita??  Webster’s Dictionary defines casita as a small house.

At Paseo, casitas are clustered in groups of four around a common motor court area which provides access to each of the homes private garage.  Locating the garage in the rear of the home allows for a distinctive, clean front.  The four clustered casitas live like a single-family home with no common shared walls and only attached to each by a trellis.

Paseo casitas are available in two and three bedroom floor plans ranging in size from 1,531 SF to 2,080 SF.  New construction casitas are currently priced from $184,990.  Here is a resource to learn more about the community and view active Paseo real estate listings.

The reality of the market was that well-priced listings were receiving multiple offers as soon as they hit the market.  We often kidded with buyers that didn’t believe us about the market conditions that their low-ball offer was a “practice offer.”  After writing a couple of “practice offers” that were not the winning bid, buyers either adjusted their expectations to submit a bid to win or went home without a purchase.

In the first quarter of 2012, residential property in Lee County Florida sold for 93.31% of asking price, here are the details :

The belief that banks are unloading homes at 50% of asking price is a myth and and not reflective of our current market conditions.  Our team is skilled with helping out of town buyers find a new home in the greater Fort Myers area.  Here is a resource to facilitate your search for a new Fort Myers home.

The most expensive home to sell in Lee County, Florida during March 2012 was a single-family home located in the John R Dickeys subdivision in Captiva.  This 7,203 SF bayfront  home is located at 15867 Captiva Drive, Captiva, FL and features 7 BR / 7.5 BA.  The selling price was $3.25M / $451 SF, which was 54% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtor Phaidra McDermott of John R. Wood Island Real Estate for closing this transaction.

Honorable mention for 2nd most expensive Lee County residential property sold in March 2012 was a single-family home located in the Gold Coast area of Captiva Island.  This 4,306 SF home located across the street from Captiva Beach at 15351 Captiva Drive, Captiva, FL features 5 BR / 4 BA .  The selling price was $2.4M / $557 SF, which was 83% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtor Kara Cuscaden of VIP Realty Group, Inc. for closing this transaction.

In March 2012 there were 21 residential transactions in Lee County with a selling price of $1M or greater, up from 17 in February 2012, 14 in January 2012 and nine in December 2011.

Here is a resource if you are interested in learning more about Fort Myers luxury homes that are currently listed for sale.

Our team is seeing a significant growing interest in Fort Myers area active adult communities from baby-boomer aged home buyers.  This experience in the trenches echoes a recent Sarasota Herald-Tribune story titled Baby boomers redefine the terms of retirement, about the growing interest in active-adult communities.

The greater Fort Myers area has long been a draw for retirement and pre-retirement active adults and is home to several well-regarded active-adult communities.  Many of these communities have full-time activity directors and residents appreciate the chock-full calendar of activities.  With the busy schedule of events, newcomers have an easier time of assimilating into the social fabric of the community.  Most communities have activities that range well-beyond the traditional golf or tennis programs so common throughout Florida.

There are lots of choices in 55+ communities in Fort Myers, here is a resource to learn more about these communities and view active Fort Myers 55+ real estate listings.

Source: Trulia Trends

In a report compiled by Trulia, the Fort Myers/Cape Coral MSA led the nation in real estate price increases for the 12-month period ending March 2012.  The Trulia report analyzed year-over-year asking prices and our MSA topped the charts with a 14.8% increase in asking prices.

The Trulia data supports the experiences our team is having in the Fort Myers real estate trenches.  Based on a total of over 70 transaction in both 2011 and Q1 2012, we have experienced a 23.7% increase in the average sale price in Q1 2012 vs. 2011.  We are seeing a tremendous shift in buyer interest from distressed foreclosure deals to turnkey new construction opportunities.

We have been active blogging about various new construction opportunities currently available in the market.  Here is a compilation of blog posts tagged new construction.

Short sales can offer real value for buyers of Fort Myers area real estate.  Often short sale properties are in good shape as the owner is living in the home and cooperating with the lender.  Many of our buyers are finding good value in the short sale sector of the market right now.

As short sales can often take significantly longer to close than a normal transaction, Short sale buyers need to exercise patience throughout the process.  Real Estate Attorney Gary M. Singer offers some good short sale buyer tips in the Sun Sentinal:

Not doing enough research on the seller and the mortgage before you commit.  Are the husband and wife getting a divorce and will both spouses stay cooperative all the way through? Do they have two mortgages, which will make the negotiations with the bank more difficult? If you sense the deal could drag on longer than a few months, find another house.

Failing to check up on the seller’s representative who will negotiate with the bank.  The key to completing a short sale is checking in with the bank at least weekly. Otherwise, the case will stall because the lender likely has thousands of other short sales to consider. This short sale probably isn’t the only one your seller’s rep is negotiating. So don’t be shy about insisting on regular updates.

Being too picky on price.  If you are trying to get the deal of the century and the bank wants a little more money, it probably makes sense to kick in the extra cash. There’s no use in walking away from a steal just because you have to pay a little more. That’s the kind of thing buyers tend to regret later.

Spending money before you have to.  After you sign the contract and wait for the bank’s approval, don’t start ordering inspections and appraisals and applying to the homeowner’s association. If the deal doesn’t go through, you’ll be out that money and very unhappy.

Getting caught flat footed on your own mortgage. Once the seller’s lender accepts your offer, it likely will want to close within a month or two. That could be a problem if you don’t have your loan approved. There’s plenty of time to get that done while the seller’s bank is considering your offer.

Here is a resource to learn more about and view only active Fort Myers short sale listings.  Our team members are well practiced short sale experts and can help to guide you through the buying process.

CNN/Money ranked Cape Coral/Fort Myers region as the 3rd fastest growing MSA in the nation for the decade of 2000-2010 with a growth rate of 60.8%. Cape Coral/Fort Myers closely trailed Charlotte (64.6%) and Raleigh (63.4%) for top national growth rates.

Lee County, Florida which encompasses both Cape Coral and Fort Myers is a truly fascinating place with affordable housing, year-round temperatures that average 74 degrees and beautiful barrier island beaches.  Our area is popular place for pre-retirement baby boomers to invest and we continue to draw many of our new residents from the Midwest, New England and Ontario, Canada.

If you are contemplating an investment on Southwest Florida real estate, here is a resource to learn more about Fort Myers/Cape Coral real estate.

In a city of approximately 155,000 residents, Cape Coral is home to less than 20 gated communities.  This limited number of gated communities is significantly different from neighboring Southwest Florida cities like Fort Myers, Estero and Naples where gated communities dominate the residential landscape.

Prospective buyers searching for available homes in Cape Coral’s gated communities continue to be among the most active on our Southwest Florida real estate website.  Many buyers appreciate the deed restrictions that are in place in the Cape’s gated communities that can protect property values and limit neighborhood disturbances.  Buyers also welcome the centralized amenities like fitness centers, community pools and activities often found in gated communities.

Cape Coral’s gated communities are also served by the city’s municipal utilities, eliminating angst over future assessments that impacts many non-gated sections of the city.  Residents enjoy strolling through the neighborhood as many of the gated communities have sidewalks and other recreation paths and the gated aspect restricts non-resident pass-through automobile traffic.

Here is a resource to learn more about and view active listings in Cape Coral gated communities.  Our team has extensively toured these communities and the available listings and can assist in focusing your search for a new home in one of these fine communities.

Based on data from realtor dot com listings, AOL Real Estate has identified the Fort Myers market as having the 8th highest real estate price increases in the country for the 12-month period ending February 2012.  The 12-month median price increase for Fort Myers weighed in at 15.59%.

In positive news for the State of Florida, seven of the top ten price gainers were Florida markets.  It would certainly appear that Florida is in the process of emerging in a big way from our five year visit to the the real estate penalty box!

If you have been on the fence about an investment in Florida real estate, Fort Myers has both subtropical weather with an average year-round temperature of 74 degrees and affordable real estate prices.  Here is a resource to facilitate your search for a piece of the Fort Myers real estate pie.

A report provided by DataQuick and analyzed by Inman News details that 81.5 percent of the Canadian real estate purchases in the Fort Myers area were made by Ontarians in the nine month period ending January 2012.

The dominant presence of Ontarians in Fort Myers certainly makes sense from a proximity standpoint as Kings Highway 401, the main east-west highway in Ontario runs from the Quebec border to Windsor.  US I-75 which runs from Michigan to Fort Myers is accessed by crossing through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Contributing to this dominance of Ontarians in Fort Myers is the fact that the Kings Highway 401 Corridor is home to more than half of all Canadian citizens.

Ontarians are drawn to Fort Myers for a number of factors highlighted by tropical weather and affordable real estate.   Fort Myers is the northernmost major Florida city on the I-75 corridor with a subtropical climate.  The annual average temperature in Fort Myers is 74.9 F (23.8 C).  Many days when long pants and sweaters are needed in Sarasota or Tampa, its still shorts and t-shirt weather in Fort Myers.

Affordable real estate is another major draw for Ontarians to the Fort Myers area.  With median real estate sales prices in the low $100s, buyers can live in a beautiful gated community with plenty of amenities without taking unnecessary financial risks.  Here is a resource to facilitate your search for Fort Myers real estate.

Lee County Florida, home to Fort Myers and Cape Coral, was ranked second nationally in the nine-month period ending January 2012 for the percentage of foreign real estate buyers.  In this time frame, 8.5% of all real estate transactions in Lee County involved a buyer with a foreign mailing address.

Canadians dominated the foreign buyers accounting for 67.4% of international transactions followed by Germans at 9.1% and Brits at 4%.  These international buyer percentages provided by real estate research firm DataQuick closely parallel the demographics of foreign buyers that our team has worked with this year.

New construction opportunities have been very popular with overseas buyers this year including the gated communities of Paseo, San Simeon and Botanica Lakes in Fort Myers and Sandoval in Cape Coral.  Foreign buyers have also been very active in waterfront high-rise condo market including High Point Place in Fort Myers, Tarpon Landings in Cape Coral and North Star Yacht Club in North Fort Myers.

The most expensive home to sell in Lee County, Florida during February 2012 was a single-family home located in Bonita Springs on Bonita Beach.  This 5,253 SF beach front home is located at 26748 Hickory Boulevard, Bonita Springs, FL and features 4 BR / 5 BA.  The selling price was $2.99M / $569 SF, which was 90% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtor Doug Grant of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate for closing this transaction.

Honorable mention for 2nd most expensive Lee County residential property sold in February 2012 was a single-family home located in Bonita Springs on Bonita Beach.  This 4,779 SF home located at 26858 Hickory Boulevard, Bonita Springs, FL features 5 BR / 7 BA .  The selling price was $2.55M / $534 SF, which was 91% of the asking price.

Congratulations to selling Realtor Nancy L. McCrum Century 21 Sunbelt Realty, Inc. for closing this transaction.

In February 2012 there were 17 residential transactions in Lee County with a selling price of $1M or greater, up from 14 in January 2012, nine in December 2011 and ten in November.

Here is a resource if you are interested in learning more about Fort Myers luxury homes that are currently listed for sale.

Most of us don’t enjoy celebrating birthdays as we get older, but when you are a community you love to do this so when the 25th anniversary of Fountain Lakes came up, the community came out to celebrate.  On March 10th,  about 400 people from the community came out to celebrate this milestone with a strawberry social.  Fountain Lakes, a community located in Estero was created 25 years ago as a quiet development of single-family homes mostly suited for adults.  It has flourished into a community with seniors to families with children.  With a combination of single family homes, alongside condos and a wonderful community center, there is something for everyone.

New housing developments have to start somewhere, but when a housing development turns into a community that is when you have created something special.  With a combination of architectural styles, Fountain Lakes appeals to a wide demographic. When you move into a new community, one of your first thoughts is how you will meet people. If you are a senior and like the family environment, you have it.  If you are an existing family, there are kids for your kids to meet.  If you are planning a new family, you can establish yourself in this area and watch your family grow.

There are thousands of developments in Florida, but if you are looking for a community that is growing and neighbors that are growing together, Fountain Lakes is it.  Here is a resource to view active Fountain Lakes real estate listings.

The master-planned gated community of Sandoval in Cape Coral continues to bustle with activity this winter season.  Buyers are drawn to the resort-style feel of this beautiful community. With spectacular amenities already in place and three respected national builders, D.R. Horton, Pulte and Taylor Morrison currently building in the community, Sandoval should be on any home-buyers short list of neighborhoods to check out.

Sales have been brisk at Sandoval and the D.R. Horton neighborhood of Blackburn, which features 82 single-family homes is now more than 85% sold out.  Homes at Blackburn range in size from 1,755 SF – 2,554 SF and are currently priced from $175,900.  Homes sales have recently exceeded 90% in the Pulte Homes community of Greendale.  This neighborhood of 45 lakefront homes features floor plans ranging in size from 1,515 SF – 1,725 SF that are currently priced from $164,900.

Currently, both new home and resale options are available at Sandoval.  Here is a resource to learn more about the community and view active Sandoval real estate listings.

Paseo Fort Myers Florida

Fort Myers is very busy right now with significant numbers of seasonal visitors enjoying our warm sunny weather, beaches, golf courses and of course shopping for real estate.  In a shift from the past few winters when foreclosures and short sales dominated the market, buyers have shifted their focus to new construction opportunities.  By and large this shift is to new homes that are built or being built in existing developments.

New construction allows buyers to customize their home with the features and finishes that best meet their needs.  Across the board, we are seeing strong interest in open floor plans, high ceilings, guest suites and upgraded kitchen and bath finishes.

Here are the developments in the Fort Myers area with new construction opportunities that have been the hottest with our buyers this winter season:

• Paseo – Mediterranean-themed community in Daniels Corridor of Fort Myers
• Sandoval – Cape Coral master-planned community
• High Point Place – Fort Myers riverfront high-rise
• San Simeon – Fort Myers town home community
• Botanica Lakes – Fort Myers single-family home gated community
• Tarpon Landings – Cape Coral waterfront high-rises in marina community

Our team of buyer agents has toured and is intimately familiar with new construction options available in these communities.  We are here to provide low-pressure, information-rich assistance in your quest for a new home in Southwest Florida.

Heritage Pointe is a well-established Fort Myers gated community featuring 384 condominiums in a lakeside setting.  The community is popular with second home-owners due to its resort-style amenities and close proximity to barrier island beaches.

In the last year, 16 units have sold at Heritage Pointe, ranging in price from a low of $88,000 for a 2 BR / 2 BA / 1,194 SF unit to a high of $165,000 for a 2 BR / 2 BA / 1,408 SF unit.  The average selling price for the 16 transactions was $97/SF and the 16 units sold on average for 95% of asking price.

Currently, there are 8 units listed for sale at Heritage Pointe starting at $119,000.  Based on last year’s sales, this represents a 5 month supply of available units.  Here is a resource to learn more about and view active Heritage Pointe real estate listings.

With the opening this spring of JetBlue Park at the eastern end of Daniels Parkway, this section of Fort Myers is swarming with Red Sox Fans.  For those of you new to the area, Daniels Parkway is a major east-west thoroughfare in Fort Myers and runs from Imokolee Road (SR 82) to the Tamiami Trail (US-41).  For many visitors, Daniels Parkway was their first glimpse of Fort Myers when traveling from RSW Airport to our regions barrier islands of Sanibel and Captiva.

Like much of the Fort Myers, gated communities dominate the residential housing landscape along the Daniels Corridor.  This area popular with golfers and is home to some of our finest country club communities including Fiddlesticks Country Club and the The Club at Renaissance.

Much of our new construction activity is occurring in the Daniels Corridor at gated communities including Paseo, Botanica Lakes, The Plantation and Bella Casa.  One of the more established communities and located directly adjacent to JetBlue Park is the master-planned Gateway community.

If you are interested in learning more about housing options, here is a resource providing active listings and detailed information about Daniels Corridor real estate.

The Forest Country Club was in the news this past Monday when it hosted the 19th Annual Boston Red Sox Children’s Hospital Celebrity Classic.  Several Red Sox players past and present hit the links for the day to support the Southwest Florida Children’s Hospital.

This prestigious South Fort Myers club features 36-holes of golf on a 650-acre setting bordering a nature preserve.  Limited to just 650 equity golf memberships, the two 18-hole championship courses at the Forest have ample capacity to provide the optimal golfing experience.  Both designed by Gordon Lewis, the Bear plays 6,940 yards and the Bobcat plays 6,535 yards.  Both courses have undergone renovations and offer vibrant and challenging golfing.

The Forest offers both single-family homes and condo housing options.  The community does not require mandatory golf membership, making it a very poplar option with part-time, second home owners.  Here is a resource to view active Forest Country Club real estate listings.