The percentage of cash buyers in Charlotte County for single-family homes increased in January to 39% versus December, when 36.5% of buyers paid cash. January’s cash sales were up 7.5% year-over-year, according to data from Realtors of Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port-DeSoto Inc.
Leanne Walker
The majority of buyers have been coming from New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin, but now a good number are coming from California, Texas and Colorado, said Leanne Walker, president of the Realtors of Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port-DeSoto Inc.
Prices were all over the board from neighborhood to neighborhood.
“Because Charlotte County is so big, from Englewood to Port Charlotte to Punta Gorda, the median sale price is more representative,” said Walker, referring to the disparity between median and average sales prices in January, when the median sale price was $363,990 versus the average price of $470,379.
Both the median and average prices were higher than in December but not by a large margin. December’s median price was little changed at $363,750 while the average price for single-family homes was $436,640.
The median sale price in January was down 0.3% year-over-year, while the average sale price was up 11.1% year-over-year.
In terms of sales volume, January saw $138.8 million in sales, which was up 27.6% year-over-year. But sales volume was higher in December at $158.1 million.
Walker explained the Englewood area is still undergoing recovery from Hurricane Ian, which has affected property values in that area.
In general, the market has been relatively robust despite the number of new homes that have been coming onto the market. Many new communities continue to be developed along Burnt Store Road, at Babcock Ranch in Punta Gorda and in the West Port section of Port Charlotte.
However, it is taking longer for homes to sell due to the amount of inventory. The time to contract is three to four months, while it takes 30 to 45 days for most properties to close, Walker said.
The indicator of where the market is lies in the amount of inventory. In January, there was a 7.3-month supply compared to January 2023 when there was a three-month supply.
Going further back, two and three years ago monthly inventory was a month or even less, so the scarce supply drove up demand, and there were bidding wars for some properties.
Despite the current inventory buildup, the January market remained strong for sellers who were getting 95% of their original listing price.
Buyers last month had a lot of inventory to choose from. There were 2,916 active listings compared with 1,196 in January 2023, for an increase of 143.8%. Also, there were 637 homes about to come onto the market in January.
Of the 295 single-family homes sold in January, most–107–were within the $300,000 to $399,999 price range, which was an increase of 55.1% year-over-year.
They were followed by 75 homes being sold in the $400,000 to $599,999 range, which reflected a 15.4% year-over-year increase.
One of the biggest jumps was in the sale of homes of more than $1 million. The 15 homes sold in that price range represented a 66.7% increase for that price category.
Inventory levels for condos and townhomes were up 208.5% year-over-year, and of the 49 closed sales in January, the median price was $310,000, down 1.6%.
Of the 49 units sold, 35 buyers paid cash, which represented 71.4% of all condo and townhome sales.
The dollar volume of $19.1 million in January was up 5.2% for the year.
There was a 9.8-month supply of condo and townhome inventory in January compared to a 2.9-month supply, which represented a 237.9% increase.
