For sellers, the headwind may be short-lived.
After a red-hot spring and summer, island real estate sales slowed in September and October, said Christine Kourik Oct. 26.
But most sellers have not reduced their property’s price tags.
“We haven’t seen any real price reductions unless the property is extremely overpriced and they’re coming down to reality,” Kourik said.
The 31-year real estate agent now selling for RE/MAX Alliance Group doesn’t expect sales volume and property pricing to flatline for more than several weeks.
“I don’t really see an increase in value right now. I think in maybe a month we might start seeing an increase again and going back to a normal market,” she said. “It’s just with the hurricane and everything, I think people are a little like, ‘Oh, wow.’ But they forget. People tend to forget and people will start buying again soon.”
Investors eying pricey rental properties have been deterred by rising insurance premiums, property taxes, interest rates and inflation she said.
And the worm has turned for buyers looking to improve properties for a quick profit.
“As far as someone picking a property up for $3 million and then trying to flip it three days later for $8 million, that time is gone,” Kourik said.
But mortgage-free cash buyers — who represent about 80% of prospective property owners and are not required by law to carry catastrophic insurance — won’t be fazed by market conditions or the potential for future storms to destroy their dwellings.
“A lot of the single-families are self-insured, so they could care less,” Kourik said. “The land value is there, so they’ll just rebuild. And with all the new construction going on right now, those homes are actually very well-built and will stand up to extreme weather.”
Property values and sales volume trended upward for about two years before reaching fever pitch in February and did not drop off until late summer.
“We’ve had a great year and I think that in a couple of months, people are going to forget about the hurricane and continue on with their investments,” Kourik said. “It’s a great place to live, great place to invest in and the values are just greatly appreciating. So, I think it’s a great place to park money.”
As of Oct. 20, 128 of the island’s approximately 9,000 residential properties were for sale, according to Mike Norman Realty sales associate and co-owner Marianne Norman-Ellis.
The rental market
Norman-Ellis and Wagner Realty property manager Lisa Varano told The Islander in mid-October they’d fielded calls from snowbirds and other prospective renters who saw their annual rental properties in the Fort Myers-area destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
“Our rental season’s really strong. It’s going to be good and it might be a little busier because of the people that were supposed to be renting in the south coming here,” Norman-Ellis said.
“I do know that we’ve gotten a few people in our rentals due to displacement down there,” Varano said Oct. 20. “And we’ve already started getting calls for summer rentals due to people not being able to go to Sanibel or Captiva.”
Varano said Wagner usually doesn’t start receiving calls for weeklong summer rentals until after January but people put out of Fort Myers-area rentals are calling early to avoid missing out on their 2023 vacations.