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We all know when it comes to real estate that prices are through the roof, but home prices in this Southwest Florida city are expected to drop in 2024.
In Southwest Florida, the real estate market has experienced a significant surge in property prices over the last few years. In fact, cities like Naples, Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Sarasota are some of the most expensive cities to buy a house in region. Living in paradise with our amazing beaches, year-round warm weather and a thriving economy has driven high demand for real estate, resulting in escalating home prices. Of course, a growing population leads to limited inventory. Add in high interest rates and property taxes and it makes it that much harder to purchase a home. But there is good news for the coming year.
Home Prices In This Southwest Florida City Are Expected To Drop In 2024
2024 could bring some good news when it comes to getting some relief on home prices. A new report from Realtor.com just came out predicting that home prices will fall 1.7% next year. But here in Southwest Florida, there's one city that could see an even larger drop than that. In Cape Coral, there is a projected decline of 2.9%. Other cities in Florida that could see a fall include Sarasota (-4.9%) and Lakeland (-3.5%). To see the full report, click here
The decline in home prices could entice new buyers to start looking. However, mortgage rates are still high, though they have come down. In fact, the Associated Press reports that the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage in the U.S. is 7.22% as of last month. But there are predictions that rate could drop even more next year to 6.8%.
Florida Has 3 Of The Fastest Growing Cities In The US
People love Florida. They just keep coming. Whether it's the big metro areas, or smaller cities like Cape Coral, Fort Myers, or Naples, they keep coming. But it's not just Florida. Some of the fastest growing cities are located out west, in Texas and Arizona. Even Boise, Idaho is seeing some big gains as well. But let's start with where people are leaving.
The Fastest-Declining Cities
Financebuzz created a metric to measure cities in decline. They analyzed data from 2019-2022 such as population change and unemployment rate. They also looked at personal income, new businesses, vacancies, home values. Plus another metric which can show a city in decline - percentage of the population that is in debt collections.
San Francisco is listed as the fastest declining city in the US. Even with the recent "homeless cleanup" that went down earlier this month, San Francisco can't avoid that since 2019, according to Financebuzz, the city's population has dropped by 8.29%. Home values are increasing below the national average, plus new home construction and new business openings are below average. New Orleans, and New York round out the top 3 US cities in decline.
Where are the Fastest Growing Cities located?
Topping the list for the fastest growing city in the US is a city with just over 200,000 people in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. It's Frisco, Texas. They can't build houses fast enough there (which sounds very familiar to us in Florida). Over 2,200 new homes per 100,000 people were built there last year. An incredible amount considering just 3.5% of housing is vacant. Texas is booming, but if you're really looking for a hotspot, 3 of the top 5 cities on this list are suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona.
The Fastest Growing Cities in Florida
Orlando
Number 6 overall, Orlando's population has gone up by 10% over the past 3 years. Plus, home values have increased 24% higher than the national average. The Lake Nona neighborhood of Orlando is one of the fastest growing communities in the country.
Port St. Lucie
PCL has seen a population boom of 15% over the past few years. And construction is absolutely on fire with 2,385 new homes built per 100,000 people in 2022. This puts it at number 7 on this list. Port St. Lucie is on Florida's East Coast about halfway between Orlando and Miami. Away from the big cities, but easily reachable.
Miami
Coming in at number 9, just behind Huntsville, Alabama, is Miami. And business is the tone for Miami. More than 28,000 new businesses opened per 100,000 people in 2022. Per capita income has also outpaced the nation - but it's not enough. Miami is struggling with housing. Everything is getting so expensive. It's hard to attract new talent when they can't afford housing. If South Florida can't solve this problem, many of the issues that plague California will begin to develop here. We're ok - for now.
