The median price of a single-family-home resale in September in Lee County was $89,700 in Lee County — 37 percent off $141,400 a year earlier, according to statistics released today by the Florida Association of Realtors.  Meanwhile, the number of homes sold increased 77 percent in the same period from 746 to 1,321.

In Charlotte County, the median price fell 19 percent from $136,900 to $110,600 while the number of homes sold increased 56 percent from 153 to 238.  Statewide, the median price fell 19 percent from $174,900 to $142,000 while the number of homes sold increased 34 percent from 10,778 to 14,419.

In a separate report also issued today, the National Association of Realtors said U.S. home sales rose 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in September, from a downwardly revised pace of 5.1 million in August.

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he Obama administration on Monday unveiled a new program to help state and local housing finance agencies make more home loans, but some Lee County experts say the program should proceed with caution.  The plan will help the agencies finance mortgages for first-time homebuyers and develop rental housing.

The agencies have had a hard time raising money because of the housing crisis and credit crunch. This year, the agencies have sold about $4 billion in tax-exempt bonds — one-fourth the amount in a typical year. That reduction is limiting the number of loans they can make.

Making credit more available is a good idea as long as it doesn’t lead to reckless lending, said Suzanne Sherer of Remax Realty Team in Cape Coral, who’s also president of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach.

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It just keeps getting better.

The Naples Area Board of Realtors released its third-quarter statistics today, and the figures suggest the local real estate market continues to rebound. For the months of July, August and September, overall closed sales numbered 1,821 units, an increase of 55 percent over the third quarter of 2008.

Overall pending sales numbered 2,570 for the quarter, a whopping 96 percent over the third quarter of 2008.

If the closed sale total was broken down into a daily figure, it would mean 20.2 units closed every day in the third quarter, noted John Steinwand, president and CEO of Naples Realty Services.

“The resiliency of the Naples real estate market is truly amazing,” Steinwand said. “Bear in mind we’re talking about summer sales, summer closings.”

The increases show ongoing improvement in the local market. In the second quarter of 2009, closed sales increased 37 percent over the previous year, while pending sales showed a 92 percent increase.

“It seems like things are going in the right direction,” said Phil Wood, president and CEO of John R. Wood, Realtors. “I can’t complain.”

Some of the most dramatic activity continues to be in the lowest end of the market. Overall pending sales under $300,000 showed a 126 percent increase in third quarter 2009. But as the pending sales increased, the median closed price dropped, decreasing 30 percent to $176,000 in third quarter 2009 from $250,000 in third quarter 2008.

The quarterly report tracked Realtor sales though the SunshineMLS multiple listing service. Excluding Marco Island, it included all of Collier County and was divided into six geographical areas.

One of those areas, East Naples, showed a pending sale increase of 136 percent over the third quarter 2008. Closed sales increased 99 percent. That’s because East Naples includes Golden Gate Estates, explained Brett Brown, president of NABOR, and the area has been the epicenter of the foreclosure and short sale market.

In recent months, it has become easier to put together a short sale, noted Mike Hughes, the vice-president of Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. Lenders are more responsive to short sale buyers and returning a financing answer more quickly.

But short sales have made their share of skeptics, too, Wood explained. Some buyers have heard too many horror stories about short sales, and aren’t interested in seeing them.

Buyers aren’t shy about wanting to see property, though.

Wood said his company, which has offices in Lee and Collier counties, has recorded 80,000 showings to date this year. The main office of Downing-Frye has recorded 26,000 showings to date this year, Hughes said.

“We’re showing a lot more property than we used to before a contract is written, but that’s probably because there’s a lot of inventory,” Hughes said.

Maybe so, but inventory seems to be the one percentage that’s decreasing. In the third quarter of 2008, there were 10,658 units for sale. Now, there are 9,209 – a decrease of 14 percent.

“We’ve known for a while that there have been a lot of people sitting on the fence, trying to time it right,” Hughes said. “I would caution buyers, don’t wait too long because a lot of the choice properties are being picked off.”

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Homes resales are up nearly 120 percent year-to-date in the Fort Myers area.

From January to September, 12,526 single-family homes sold. In the same months last year, there were 5,727 sales, according to the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc.

In September, sales rose 56.7 percent. There were 1,185 homes sold. Nearly 50 percent of them were bank-owned. A little more than 20 percent were short sales — sales made for less than the bank is owed to avoid foreclosure. The rest were traditional sales.

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Naples News By Tara McLaughlin

Investors have discovered a new market in the latest blow to homeowners and the building industry — houses built with Chinese drywall.

About 30 homes disclosed to contain the noxious drywall sold in Lee County this year.

Experts say the trend is likely to continue as sales close for about half their appraised value.

“There are always investors out there, even during a downturn,” said Bob Knight, vice president of Cape Coral-based Paul Homes.

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Wall Street Journal By Nick Timiraos

New data suggest that foreclosures are rising in more expensive housing markets.

About 30% of foreclosures in June involved homes in the top third of local housing values, up from 16% when the foreclosure crisis began three years ago, according to new data from real-estate Web site Zillow.com. The bottom one-third of housing markets, by home value, now account for 35% of foreclosures, down from 55% in 2006.

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By Dick Hogan News Press

The number of foreclosure lawsuits filed in Lee County in September fell slightly but bit more deeply into the middle class as people started to lose more expensive homes.

There were 1,610 foreclosure lawsuits filed, down slightly from August’s 1,692 and sharply off the near-record 2,462 from September 2008, according to statistics released Thursday by the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association.

But a third of the foreclosures were houses with pools, said Jeff Tumbarello, director of the association.

That’s a big change from past months when foreclosures were largely inexpensive homes and lots let go by investors who bought during the real estate boom and then simply let the properties go after prices started falling in 2006, he said.

“What’s coming in residential real estate is very much the cream,” he said.

As a result, Tumbarello said, “Houses in Fort Myers proper are starting to take over the list” from lower-priced Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres although Lehigh still accounts for 20 percent and Cape Coral for 40 percent.

“It doesn’t surprise me we’re starting to flow into some more expensive housing,” said Michael Timmerman, a Naples-based senior associate with Fishkind & Associates, an Orlando-based economic consulting firm. “Those people were able to hold out for a little longer but now they can’t anymore.”

The steady flow of foreclosed houses back onto the market when lenders get possession of them has made it hard for builders to compete with existing home inventory, he said.

It’s encouraging that the overall number of foreclosures is falling, Timmerman said. “We’re seeing prices start to pick up.”

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News Press

There were 1,610 mortgage foreclosure lawsuits filed in Lee County in September, down slightly from August’s 1,692 and sharply off the near-record 2,462 from September 2008, according to statistics released today by the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association.

Foreclosures spiked sharply higher after the residential real estate boom in Southwest Florida ended in early 2006. For the past several months, foreclosures have been on the decline.

BY DICK HOGAN  News Press

There were 31 single-family-home permits issued by unincorporated Lee County in September, down slightly from 34 in August and 32 in September 2008, according to statistics released today by the county Department of Community Development.

Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach reported no permits issued and there were 18 in Bonita Springs. Those municipalities do their own permitting, as do Fort Myers and Cape Coral where numbers weren’t immediately available.

There were four multi-family units permitted in the unincorporated county during September, compared to 10 the previous month and six in September 2008, the county reported.

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Naples News By LAURA LAYDEN

BONITA SPRINGS — It’s no deal for now for members of the Bonita Bay Club.

David Lucas, chairman of the Bonita Bay Group, has called off talks with a Turnover Committee that has been handling the negotiations for members trying to buy their golf club from the developer.

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