Home prices drop from ’05Decline is first for Lee County in 7 years.

Home prices drop from ’05Decline is first for Lee County in 7 years.
By Tim Engstromtengstrom@news-press.com/
Originally posted on July 26, 2006
BY THE NUMBERS/ EXISTING-HOME SALES.
These statistics compare June’s figures to those in June 2005SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES: LEE COUNTY• MEDIAN PRICE: $268,000, down 5 percent• SALES: 891, down 31 percentCOLLIER COUNTY• MEDIAN PRICE: $451,500, down 8 percent• SALES: 274, down48 percentCHARLOTTE COUNTY• MEDIAN PRICE: $222,300, up 3 percent• SALES: 323, down34 percentCONDOMINIUMS:LEE COUNTY• MEDIAN PRICE: $250,000, down 7 percent• SALES: 150, down66 percentCOLLIER COUNTY• MEDIAN PRICE: $508,100, up 1 percent• SALES: 57, down 48 percentCHARLOTTE COUNTY• MEDIAN PRICE: $350,000, up 90 percent• SALES: 3, down 97 percentSOURCE: Florida Association of Realtors


The median sales price of an existing home in Lee County fell 5 percent in June, the first year-over-year decline countywide in seven years.A home sold with the help of a Realtor had a median price of $268,000, down from $281,000 in June 2005, according to data released Tuesday by the Florida Association of Realtors.The decline, coupled with a drop in building permits for new construction of 26 percent over June 2005, is further evidence of the slowing housing market. Earlier this month, Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities Inc. confirmed it would lay off workers because of the declining market.“The market is changing a lot from what it was just a few months ago,” said Pedro Diaz, a real estate agent with Century 21 Birchwood Realty. “It’s a better time to be looking to buy a house because there are more houses up for sale and they are being listed longer.”Home sales slowed 31 percent in Lee with a total of 891, down from 1,297 in June 2005.
Condominium sales plunged 66 percent to 150 sales in Lee, with an average sales price of $250,000, down 7 percent.Statewide, existing home sales decreased 29 percent, although home prices climbed 3 percent, to $257,800. Nationally, existing home sales dropped 1.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.62 million units. The median price was $231,000, up 0.9 percent from June 2005, the smallest year-over-year price gain since May 1995. The big worry is that declining sales could send shockwaves through the economy, much as the bursting of the stock market bubble in 2000 contributed to the 2001 recession.Economists expect the decline in the economy to contribute to a slowdown in growth but not to an outright recession.The last countywide decline in Lee was recorded in June 1999 when the median price fell 1 percent to $105,200. Declines were noted in December 2000 and April 2002, but those months lacked data from Bonita Springs and Cape Coral, respectively.“That was a little surprising, but I’ve noticed a little weakening in the past few weeks,” said real estate agent Brett Ellis, of RE/MAX Realty Group.However, Ellis said sales numbers may once again begin to climb as sellers lower their prices to attract buyers.“They are getting down to where the buyers are, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see those numbers level out or pick up in next few months,” said Ellis, noting that interest rate increases have slowed. “Buyer power has increased for consumers, and we haven’t seen that for a few years.”Former Lee County resident Joanne Sassaman, 66, just closed on the sale of her Colonial Country Club home this week. She listed the home for sale in January, and it has been under contract since April.“Every other home I’ve sold has sold in seven to 10 days, so this was a little frightening,” Sassaman said from her new home in Bethlehem, Pa. “We ended up knocking about $100,000 off of the original listing price.”The home sold for about $325,000, more than 50 percent higher than she paid two years ago.“I was happy with that,” she said. Dagoberto Giron, 32, of east Fort Myers, finds himself on both sides of the market. He hopes to sell his home on Luckett Road and move to a larger home elsewhere.“Everything is kind of low compared to what prices had been,” Giron said. “I think I will be able to sell my home and get a better deal.”Giron just began shopping Tuesday, but he liked what he had seen so far.“If I see what I like, I’m ready to sign a contract right now,” he said.Nationally, analysts said the growing level of unsold homes will further depress prices in coming months and add to the slowdown in sales.“With interest rates still rising and job growth slowing, the slowdown in sales will continue,” predicted Patrick Newport, an economist at Global Insight, an economic consulting firm.He expects existing home sales to decline by 8 percent this year and 9 percent in 2007.David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said he thinks the decline in housing sales is beginning to level out.Sales of new and existing homes set records for five consecutive years, but rising mortgage rates that have risen to the highest levels in four years have dampened the sales boom this year. Freddie Mac reported that 30-year mortgages hit 6.80 percent last week, the highest rate since late May 2002.Lereah said price weakness will continue as sellers start cutting their asking prices in the face of weaker demand and rising inventories.He said housing continues to be a “tale of two markets” with previously hot areas experiencing declines and more modestly priced areas showing a boom.