Waterfront Properties Are Very Popular In Cape Coral

If you are in the market for a waterfront property in Cape Coral, Florida, you should hurry as your chance to find out at a good price is diminishing by each and every day. The distressed waterfront houses, including foreclosures and short sales are minimal and almost gone. From a total of 874 waterfront properties available on the city’s market, only 132 are distressed. Over the last three years, the waterfront property sales have been averaging around 25% of all sales in Cape Coral, according to Paula Hellenbrand, former president of the Cape Coral Association of Realtors.

Near the March 2005 peak, the waterfront sales reached 39%, according to her, and during that period, premium waterfront houses saw as much as 40% appreciation in only 12 months. She added she has clients that are looking for a property in the $259,000 price range, but they are not satisfied with the quality of the property’s condition, age or size. In such a case, usually a client starts looking for freshwater homes.

Cynthia Higgins, an Encore Realty agent, affirmed that clients in some cases come to the Cape with a perspective that clashes with reality. In other words, clients come to the city expecting to purchase houses at very low prices, but they are surprised that the level of inventory has gotten low, driving the prices up.

For a potential buyer that is a serious boater, the number of the bridges, distance to open water and canal size is very important as far as land value is concerned and he will be all the more favorable the higher up in price a buyer goes, Hellenbrand added. The starting price for sailboat access in Cape Coral, Florida starts from approximately $135,000, with a small-sized teardown property. A Gulf access lot can be found for only $30,000 in Northwest Cape, while a freshwater lot can be acquired for around $10,000. Needless to say, the value of a certain property varies greatly by location, boat locks and lifts, canal size, boating time as well as other homes in that area.

If we look at the recent buyers, we find a combination of future retirees that are aiming for good value, along with investors and other people searching for an upgrade. Hellenbrand added that due to the inventory level being low, she has been seeing more and more older, smaller homes being acquired and torn down for a rebuild. She said that the current inventory level is the lowest she had ever seen in the last 12 years.

So far, the percent of total home sales in Cape Coral, Florida is: Waterfront: 29; Gulf access: 20; distressed (short sale or foreclosure): 41. Last year, in 2010, the figures looked like this: Waterfront: 22; Gulf access: 15; distressed (short sale or foreclosure): 52, while in 2009: Waterfront: 22; Gulf access: 14; distressed (short sale or foreclosure): 60.

As the inventory drops, the prices go up so if you are looking for something affordable in Cape Coral, Florida that is not very old, you need to be on the fast move and act quickly as there aren’t many bargains available.

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Author (RazvanJr). Submitted on Thu, 12 May 2011 Time: 9:17 PM

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