Salt Water lots in SouthWest Florida in huge demand!

The supply of vacant land for sale along salt water in Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs is drying up and for many, the price is out of reach.Where once there was plenty to pick from in the 1980s and 1990s and prices under $20,000, only 5 percent of the saltwater lots remain for sale in Cape Coral.And there are no more bargains in Lee County. The cheapest is $300,000, with the most expensive lots scattered across Naples in the multimillions.
Realtors couldn't say what percentage of the lots in all of Southwest Florida are on the water, but the ones remaining form a very small part of their lot inventory.When there is a limited supply and a high demand, prices head toward the moon.
These vacant lots are coveted because of the value of salt water to boaters, who like the easy access to the Caloosahatchee River, back bays and the Gulf of Mexico.Low mortgage rates, desire for retirement homes and a search for profitable investments also make saltwater-access lots attractive.How attractive? A saltwater-access lot on Sutphin Drive in Fort Myers shot up from a sale of $319,900 in 2003 to $1,295,000 in 2005. That's a 305 percent increase in two years.
"There are only so many lots available and anything you can buy now will be money in the bank," said H. Scott Marinelli a Realtor with Gulfstream Realty & Development Inc. in Cape Coral. "One thing that will always be in demand is waterfront property."
When high-tech stocks lost their luster around 2000 and the stock market took another hit with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, investors began to look at real estate as a good move. Prices rose.
A saltwater-access lot on Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers sold for $100,000 in 2000. By the time 2005 rolled around, it sold for $750,000.Dave Foster, regional manager for the Investment Exchange Group in Cape Coral, said there are those who think that other real-estate investments are peaking and are coming back to Gulf-access waterfront property.
"Those people see waterfront property as more stable and as possibly longer term investments," Foster said. "Sometimes they hold onto it for their retirement or for their children."There is also the attraction of having a home with a boat out back that sometimes lures people to inhabit their investments."Investors made money when they bought four or five years ago at $35,000 for a lot and can sell for 10 times than today," said Roy Barker, owner of Dockside Tropical Property. "What we are seeing now is people buying to live here and less investment and flipping property. The Gulf-access lots are desirable."
Baby boomers either retiring or considering retiring with pensions and inheritances became interested in real estate about five years ago and the boom was on."We bought a lot to maybe build a house and retire in," said Cape Coral resident and architect David Mathew, 62. "We thought we could always sell it, but then we liked it in Cape Coral so much we moved here and I got a job."Cape Coral features the most Gulf-access lots because of its approximately 200 miles of saltwater canals. The saltwater-canal lot prices range from about $300,000 to $1 million, depending on proximity to the Gulf, canal width and the view, Marinelli said."I think we are in a traditionally slow period for sales because of summer," Marinelli said. "I think the market for canal-front property will continue once the season picks up again."Of its 12,958 parcels on saltwater canals, Cape Coral offers 704 lots for sale, said Century 21 Sunbelt Realtor Ken Worthington. The majority sit in the city's northwest section.

The Fort Myers area — including the cities of Fort Myers and North Fort Myers and the south Fort Myers area — offers 34 Gulf-access lots for sale. The prices for those lots are also not for the faint-hearted buyer.The average price for a lot in Fort Myers is $505,000, said Brett Ellis a partner in the RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers.
A sampling of lot prices from real estate agents shows that the farther a buyer heads south, the higher the price for water-access land.Bonita Springs' David Critzer, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker, said the 20 to 30 direct-water- access lots in his area for sale average about $2.5 million.Naples holds the ceiling with a double lot offered at $29.5 million in the city's Port Royal development, said Charles Hummel, a Realtor with Century 21 in that city.
Prices near Naples for Gulf-water lots start at $675,000. It is not unusual to see prices of $1.2 million or even $8 million, he said.Naples Multiple Listing Service, a compilation service used by real estate agents, has a tally of vacant lots standing at about 30.
A few real estate agents said they thought only the upper-end real estate spender might be left in the market."The average buyer might not want to get involved," said Jeff Miloff, a partner in Miloff Aubuchon Realty Group in Cape Coral. "But I don't think the market will slow down. We are still cheaper than other places in Florida on the water."Lots with ocean access either on a bay or a canal can cost $500,000 to $1 million, Lucy Charles, a broker with a Century 21 office in Miami, said. She said lots are hard to find and the price depends on location and proximity to the sea.
It could pay people to sell those expensive lots, pocket the difference and buy in Lee County.People in Naples and Bonita are doing just that, Worthington said. He said he thought Cape Coral and the area not only have much to offer for the price but that prices will follow the trend of Naples and the water lots will be golden.
But no matter what the market does, everyone agrees Cape Coral and their respective areas would remain very attractive to buyers. People love the water and the boating and fishing opportunities provided by Gulf access."We had a manatee and her calves visit our dock," Cape Coral's Jeannine Mathew said. "We go out on the water nearly every weekend."Mathew's husband David enjoys fishing and having the grandchildren over.
"They catch fish right off our dock," Mathew said. "I have to go out to the Gulf."