Well, I feel stupid. Just to think of all those times we kinda looked down on North Fort Myers as our trashy neighbors to the north. We should have been buying land! Just kidding about the trashy part. I love NFM. I know a lot of people up there, including that guy in the picture. NFM was always a place where people could buy some land, and do what they want. Well, when they could afford to! So when the latest numbers came out, Tampa and Miami got the headlines. But home value increases in those two cities can't compare to what's going on in North Fort Myers.
The latest Case-Shiller study came out and according to Florida realtors "the index measuring U.S. home prices year-to-year was up 7.7%, but the index measuring month-to-month changes found prices down 0.6% compared to the month before." As has been the trend, Florida is well above the average. Miami saw an 18.4% year-to-year price increase in home prices. Year-to-year, prices in Tampa were up 16.9%. Just for an out of state comparison, Atlanta was up 12.7%. But those numbers are looking at major metropolitan areas. The smart buyers are looking elsewhere. And they found it here in North Fort Myers.
The median sale price for a home in North Fort Myers in January of 2022 was $229,750. The median sale price for a home there in January of 2023? $372,500. That's a 62.1% increase year over year. And that price has come down! In October the number was $420,000.
If you're trying to negotiate, Redfin states this about North Fort Myers.
- The average homes sell for about 3% below list price and go pending in around 25 days.
- Hot homes can sell for around list price and go pending in around 8 days.
If you're looking for a deal in Florida, well that's not to far away either. Iona. The Iona section of Lee County has a median sale price of $315,00, which is down 18.2% year over year. This totally makes sense as that area was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian. Entire neighborhoods are still unlivable.
So who's running up the prices in North Fort Myers? The top 3 out of state places where people are moving from shouldn't be a surprise. Chicago, Boston, and New York . Aside from that, regular people. I know a couple in NFM who have an actual zoo. Not just a lot of animals - a zoo.
So what's for sale in the neighborhood north of the Caloosahatchee River? Have a look. I was a little shocked myself.
12560 Panasoffkee Dr - $4,480,000
19800 Skipper Rd - $1,500,000
In 2018, this property sold for $350,000
1520 Orchid Rd - $1,500,000
1779 Whitecap Cir - $1,450,000
1857 Stevenson Rd - $1,399,900
1845 Stevenson Rd - $1,275,000
18787 Baseleg Ave - $1,250,000
In 1993 this sold for $190,000
19780 Skipper Rd - $1,249,900
Someone bought this in 2019 for $450,000
3590 South Rd - $1,200,000
15561 Paper Tree Ct - $1,150,000
That's just for starters
Some of these prices are a little stupid. $1.2 million for a trailer on a 5 acre lot? But if you can get it, good for you. I will admit, however, you can still get a LOT more house here than you could if the place was in Naples. So these prices may have more room to run.
My neighbor is pretty high up on the Realtor food chain and I showed him what I saw with the 62% year over year increase in NFM. His response? "Nothing surprises me any more!"
