Charlotte County neighborhoods and the types of homes for sale were factors that determined if sellers in March would receive an offer closer to their asking price.
Leanne Walker, this year’s president of the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port-DeSoto Inc. Realtors Association, said March sales echoed February’s performance.
Single–family home sale prices remained stronger than prices of townhomes and condos amid worries about rising insurance costs and homeowners association fees, which, in many cases, rose due to insurance rate hikes and building repairs after Hurricane Ian.
Also, neighborhoods were a factor. Recent listings and closed sales in Punta Gorda Isles, for example, were more than $1 million. The luxury homes held much of their value in a market that has been weakening.
In March, 21 single-family homes sold for $1 million or more, representing a 90.9% increase year over year. However, most sales—179 of the 494 in March—were in the $300,000 to $399,999 range, according to Realtors Association’s monthly market report.
No condos or townhomes sold for $1 million or more. Of the 104 units sold, most were in the $300,000 to $399,999 range.
Sellers of single-family homes throughout the county secured 94.1% of the original list price, and condos and townhomes landed 92.9% of the original price listed, according to the report.
Inventory grew significantly over the last several months. Single–family homes in March had a 7.6 months’ supply versus February’s 7.5 months and represented a 90% increase year over year.
Inventory for condos rose to 10.4 months, up from 10.3 months in February, for a 153.7% increase year over year.
Last year, former Realtors Association president and commercial Realtor Danny Nix said he expected a lot of homes to come onto the market as sellers settled with their insurance companies and made repairs on homes they had intended to sell before the storm.
“It is a buyer’s market now,” said Carla Nix, Realtor with Coldwell Banker Sunstar Realty.
She explained that once inventory builds to six months or more, it becomes a buyer’s market due to the surplus.
Sellers have lowered their prices, unlike the trend of a couple years ago when there were bidding wars on some properties that prices exceeded the original listing price.
A factor preventing the Charlotte County residential market from slipping further is the number of cash buyers. The national average mortgage rate of lenders on March 31 was in the 5.77% to 7.02% range, according to The Mortgage Reports.
There was a significant number of cash buyers in March, 40.1% of the 494 closed sales for single–family homes were cash transactions. The median sale price was $380,000, down from $389,945 in February when 41.76% paid cash.
Of the 104 closed sales transactions for condos and townhomes, 74% were paid for in cash, which was up from February’s 66.3% cash sales. Condos and townhomes had a median sale price of $282,243, down from $324,950 in February.
However, with higher inventory levels, it is taking longer for homes to sell.
In March there were 3,122 single–family homes for sale, up 105.8% year over year, and it was taking an average of 108 days for the homes to sell. In February, there were 3,055 homes for sale.
There were 874 condos and townhomes for sale in March, up 149.7% year over year, and it took an average of 106 days for them to sell. February’s inventory stood at 865 dwellings.
