I do not have a crystal ball either. But I am a full time Realtor in South West Florida since almost 15 years. I have worked thru Buyer's markets (commonly named "bad" market) before and actually under way worse circumstances. At those times the interest rate was above 14% and it was very hard to obtain financing all together. I have also worked thru Seller's Markets (commonly named "booming" market) where properties did not even hit the market and were sold. Where buyers starting bitting against each other just to purchase one property. I don't think there is such a thing like a "bad" or "booming" Real Estate Market. I think that is a point of view. Buyers love a Buyer's Market since Buyers are sitting in the driver's seat and since buyers can purchase properties to very good prices which equals a very good investment. Sellers of course love a Seller's Market where properties are being purchased way above Market Value - they are getting a good return on their investment.

An educated Buyer will always buy in a buyer's market and an educated Seller will always sell in a seller's market - of course  only if either buyer or seller have a choice. Understandable there are situations where a seller is forced to sell in a buyer's market or where a buyer is forced to buy in a seller's market.

Since the end of 2007 I am taking about the recovering Market in South West Florida. A lot of people stated that they are nocht expecting the market to recover any time soon, most people expected the market to be down for another few years. I disagreed back then and I disagree now even more. I said at the end of 2007 that I believe that we will see a major improvement before the end of 2008.

Here is our current Situation (July 2008) Good priced properties are rarely hitting the market and are gone - picked up and purchased by Buyers or Investors. Even High End properties are hitting the market and are sold. Just today I heard a report on the news that the sales in our Area (Cape Coral/Fort Myers) increased by 47% and the prices are increasing by 10 - 25% already. I also read an article in CNN Money today stateing that the market is going to recover faster than anticipated and the we did hit the buttom a few weeks ago. All of us Realtors are very busy right now. Due to the still low property prices, the low interest rate and the European Market with the strong Euro towards the US Dollar - it is still a buyer's and investors heaven.

I still remember the time before the past boom in 2004 and 2005. We all expected the market to take off but nobody expected it to happen that fast and drastic as it did. Almost over night we saw the prices jumping - and yes jumping is the right word, prices did not increase just 1,000 Dollar, they increased in 5,000 - 10,000 Dollar jumps - nearly over night on a daily basis. How major those changes were? Just one small example. Mid 2004 I sold vacant land to a young man from Germany (he inheritated some money from his grandfather and was looking into investing it in Real Estate). He paid for this lot (a building site in Cape Coral) $ 11,000. By the end of 2005 he sold this same lot for $85,000. What a nice return on his money. What a smart young man. I remember his mother, who was very mad at me that I sold this in her eyes worthless piece of property to her son. But at that time I just knew that the area where the lot was located will just take off. I just knew that the 11,000 will double in a very short time. However I did not expect that this lot would increase almost 7 times as much. Needless to say mother and son were extremly happy.

The current Market in our Area (Cape Coral/Fort Myers) shows the same signs right now we saw in 2004 just before the booming market. Buyers and investors are back and they are taking advantage of the current prices. This is bringing down the housing inventory and even with more bankforeclosures coming on the market we now have buyers and investors to absorb those property in a very fast path. Even builders are starting builidng again, they sold almost all of their inventory in the first half of 2008.  

Florida is still an area (specially the West Coast) where people want to be. Cape Coral is one of the fastest growing areas in the whole nation, the average age is by 41 years old, there is work and entertainment. We have the beaches and the nice weather.

If you are a buyer or investor and would like to invest into Real Estate in Florida - now is the time to buy, low interest rates, still low property prices and still a good choice of properties. All this will change in very near future and I think it is just a question of time that the interest rate is going up again - and probably the Dollar is gaining strength again.

For more information about the Real Estate Market in the Cape Coral/Fort Myers Metro area, please visit my Web Site at: Spotfloridarealestate.com   

Feel free tp contact me with any questions you might have.

Monika

Century 21 Sunbelt Realty

Cape Coral, Florida