The median price of single-family homes in Charlotte County continued to soften in July, but real estate experts said there is no cause for alarm and expect the current market correction to stabilize with a return to an upswing forthcoming.
The median sale price was $355,000, down from June’s $365,000, for 450 closed sales, a 16% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, there was a 7-month supply of inventory in July.
Leanne Walker
Leanne Walker, president of the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port-DeSoto Realtors Association, said the local market is “a small pocket.” While sales have dropped and inventory is higher, she said July through September are traditionally slow months due to hot weather.
In addition, there are impediments to the market. Walker pointed out that particularly hard-hit are condo owners.
“Condo fees have doubled plus insurance, and adjusters are fighting over Hurricane Ian,” she said.
There were 76 condos and townhomes sold in July versus 84 in June, but sales were up 15.2% from July 2023. The median price for condos and townhomes was $270,750.
Affecting the higher homeowners fees for some condominium buildings is a new Florida law. Now, condos 30 years and older and three stories and higher must provide a structural engineering report at the condo association’s expense by Dec. 31. If repairs are needed, associations must promptly address them.
The inventory level for condos and townhomes was 9.3 months in July.
Shelton Weeks, Lucas Professor of Real Estate and director of the Lucas Institute for Real Estate and Finance at Florida Gulf Coast University, agreed Hurricane Ian contributed to the increasing cost of home ownership and “insurance costs kept new home buyers from coming onto the market.”
Builders have been pulling less permits, and sales in June 2024 were ahead of June of 2023, he said, adding that while the market is “working through a little softening, I don’t expect us to see a dramatic crash.”
Carla Nix
Carla Nix, a real estate agent with The Nix Team at Coldwell Banker Sunstar in Punta Gorda, said she’s been busy selling residential real estate this summer and “a lot of buyers saw the opportunity to purchase.”
But she added that some would-be buyers are skittish over the upcoming election and weather forecasts projecting an active hurricane season.
She predicted, “The market is going to return to a state of normalcy this fall,” and “prices will go up.”
While buyers have been taking advantage of softening prices, sellers have had to compromise more on price.
In July, sellers of single-family homes received 92.2% of their original listing price. This pales in comparison to a few years ago before Ian, when sellers were getting 100% of their asking price.
Condo and townhome sellers in July received 91.1% of their original listing price.
