Record sale price: Luxury market improving
Ted Stout of Realmark Realty recently sold a home on Tarpon Estates Boulevard in Tarpon Point for $2.8 million, which is the highest sale price in Cape Coral in the last three years.
It’s also the second highest sale in the last five years, also sold by Stout (July 2013) at $5.3 million on Armada Court in Cape Harbour.
“The luxury or high end home market has been down since about November 2015,” said Stout. “That’s likely due to the strength of the U.S. dollar. The Germans and Canadians are out of the market because of the exchange rate and the election is not helping because no one likes the candidates.”
Realtor Denny Grimes calls the luxury home market “the vitamin market – one a day is sold (in Southwest Florida) throughout the year.”
Grimes says 75 percent of those $2 million and up homes are sold in Naples and agrees that that market is down a bit from a year ago, but up over previous years. The Tarpon Estates home would have gone for three times that price were it in Naples.
“Overall the market is softer that it was, however Cape Coral hands down is the best waterfront value south of Tampa,” Grimes said. “Cape Coral is the market to be looking at.”
Stout sees more of a positive trend in the market going forward.
“A sale of this significance is an indicator of a strengthening economy and real estate sector,” he said. “There has been a lot of activity in the last 30 days with six contracts written, which is unusual for September. I expect it will be a record month when the numbers come out. September traditionally is a slow month for sales because school has started, the summer is over and it’s hurricane season.”
The Tarpon Estates home has four bedrooms, seven bathrooms and 6,100 square feet under air and was purchased by a entrepreneur from Michigan. It was sold fully furnished and decorated and at one time was a model home for the builder, PGI Homes. It previously was on the market off and on for several years with another realtor before Stout listed it and sold it within 100 days.
“That’s a significant (sale) number in this market,” said Stout. “In Tarpon Estates alone there have been three sales of $2 million or more.”
Grimes said now is the time for someone looking for a good deal to step into new construction home.
“Resales are more emotional,” said Grimes. “The people involved generally have ties to the property. For builders it’s all about the numbers. They don’t like to carry multiple homes, so if you find a builder with several homes on the market you’ll get a better deal.”
He added that the market for homes $300,000 and up is softening while the “sweetspot market” right now is in the under $250,000 price range.
“We have not hit the pre-bubble figure yet, but getting close to the $3 million mark is a big deal,” said Stout. “I don’t have the figures in front of me but the market bottomed out somewhere between 2009 and 2011. It has shown a slow, steady increase since then.”