Charlotte County home prices were under pressure in January with inventory levels rising and more listings poised to enter the market, shattering any chance of a seller’s market returning for months.
The inventory for single-family homes reached 8.9 months in January, a 21.9% increase when compared to January 2024 and a one-month increase from December 2024’s 7.9 months.
Carla Nix, of the Nix Team at Coldwell Banker Sunstar Realty, said in her Feb. 20 video report inventory levels exceeding a six-month supply indicate a buyer’s market.
Condo and townhome inventory hit 13.2 months, up 34.7% year over year and an increase from December 2024’s 11.4 months.
Carla Nix
Although February statistics from Realtors of Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port-DeSoto Inc. won’t be available until March, what has been occurring as of mid-February is either alarming or exciting, depending on one’s position in the market, Nix said.
She said inventory continued to build in mid-February.
There were 3,775 listings for single-family homes in January and another 492 listings were pending, while there were 1,111 condo listings with another 94 about to be listed.
The regional trend of property owners listing their homes following the completion of repairs from hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton continued. Meanwhile, new homes are being built in numerous planned developments throughout Charlotte County, and the market is months away from absorbing the inventory, Nix said.
Closed sales for single-family homes totaled 330 in January, an 11.9% year-over-year increase. The median sale price was $350,000, down 3.8%.
Condo, villa and townhome sellers faced stiff competition in January, as there were 1,111 units for sale, a 39% increase year over year. The median sale price was $241,000, a 22.3% decrease from January 2024.
Nix said condo and townhome purchases are a particularly good bargain for buyers who want to either enter the Southwest Florida market or to sell their home to downsize. But uncertainty over Florida’s homeowner and flood insurance rates, coupled with new regulations for condos over three stories and 30 years of age or more have scared away some buyers from the market.
In addition, higher homeowner association fees to cover hurricane damage to their building has prompted some to sell their units.
If the current trend continues, the outlook for sellers in the county’s residential real estate market isn’t a bright one, according to data firm ResiClub real estate research lab Epam.
ResiClub referred to the Freddie Mac House Price Index with data that reveals the Punta Gorda metropolitan statistical area, which includes all of harlotte County, had the biggest year-over-year home price decline in 2024, when prices were down 8.6% from the previous year.
All but two of the top 10 MSAs with the largest home price declines were in Florida, according to the price index report.
Punta Gorda was followed by the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area, down 7.6%, and the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area with its 4.7% decline.
The Freddie Mac House Price Index tracks 384 metro area housing markets whose data for calendar year 2024 revealed that home prices in general rose 3.9%.
