Home Prices Drop, Inventory Triples in Bonita, Lee County

It’s been 16 years since Susan Bellina - a Bonita Beach Realtor - didn’t have a closing in sight. And she isn’t alone, as the two-mile stretch down Hickory Boulevard has at least 26 homes for sale at the moment.

“I’ve been with Susie for six years and this is the most I’ve seen in any area,” said Christi Bacon, a licensed real estate assistant to Resort Quest Real Estate’s Bellina.

Bacon said that properties remained on the market for less than a week, and that was just two years ago. A house would go up for sale and be grabbed up the following day. As Florida housing markets weaken, however, Lee County is experiencing similar slow downs at the rest of the state.

For the first time in seven years, the median price of an existing home sold with the help of a Realtor was lower in June than it was a year earlier — $268,000 compared to $281,000 in June 2005, according to data released last week by the Florida Association of Realtors.

Meanwhile, the number of homes for sale in the county has risen dramatically over the past year to more than 12,000 — about three times what it was a year ago. The demand for Florida home loans simply isn’t there, as buyers continue to wait and hope prices drop even further.

According to Wes Brodersen, president of the Bonita Springs Board of Realtors, there is a variety of reasons why so many homes in the Bonita housing market are for sale.

“We were invaded by investors who raised the prices and then left,” he said. The result? A significant buyer’s market.

Bacon believes the main reason people on Bonita Beach are trying to sell their homes is because of property taxes. “There’s a lot of people who have lived there for a long time and they can no longer afford the taxes,” she said.

Other reasons for some of the listings include the recent onslaught of hurricanes, children who have inherited the properties from their parents and now want to sell and rising insurance rates, Bacon said.

Brodersen, however, isn’t so sure.

“I don’t think they are selling them over hurricanes and insurance,” he said. “[Florida home loan rates] are going up and the first of the baby boomers just turned 60. Real estate is always a good investment in the long-term. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the market. It should be more stable in the next six months.”

This is a common view - and it’s one anyone searching for a Florida home loan should find comfort in. No matter how the market appears at the moment, this is one state where purchasing a home is almost always worth the investment.