According to the Editors at Money magazine, the Florida city of Port Charlotte is the best place to retire to in the country.

The ranking is not surprising when you consider Port Charlotte’s central location here in Southwest Florida. It is just adjacent to Punta Gorda, 50 miles south of Sarasota and 40 miles north of the Ft. Myers and Naples areas. In addition, the city is nestled right on Charlotte harbor, which offers hundreds of miles of cruising waters and protected shorelines for both boating and fishing enthusiasts alike. Knowing the area well, we’re surprised it didn’t make their list for the Best Places for a Long Life.

Tags: living, markets, real estate

International clientele are once again making up a significant number of the buyers for the Southwest Florida real estate market. In fact, in Naples, 25% of the population (double the national average of 12%) are foreigners.

According to a recent survey conducted for the Florida Association of Realtors, a majority (54%) of Florida agents worked with an international client within the past 12 months and over 10% of them worked with 11 or more international clients in the same time period. The top international buyers for Southwest Florida real estate included Canadian, British and German foreign nationals who happen to have an advantage at the moment as their exchange rate favors their currency and provides them with increased purchasing power.

Tags: living, markets, real estate

For the first time in 2009, new foreclosure filings fell in August for Lee and Collier Counties in Southwest Florida. It is quite a change from the last year or so as far as filings are concerned. And, while one month’s data does not make a trend, it is hopefully a good sign of things to come.

For Lee County, there were 1,625 new filings last month, down from 1,903 in July, a 15% drop. It was the lowest number of actions seen this year. In addition, there were also 1,848 foreclosure cases resolved by the Lee County courts, down from 2,133 handled in July. In Collier County, there were 811 new filings last month, down from 1,103 in July, a 27% drop. There were 374 foreclosure cases resolved by the Collier County courts.

Tags: foreclosures, markets, real estate

It looks like the last real estate market segment in Florida that has held out for higher prices has finally burst its bubble too. Luxury Florida real estate sellers appear to have finally come to the realization that they too are going to have to give in on price in order to sell their properties.

While many folks may have thought such a move was a given under today’s housing market climate, the reality was another thing altogether. The reason for such an attitude was multi-faceted. Let’s just suffice it to say that most luxury real estate in Florida is located on some of the most prized property available. You don’t give away oceanfront estates, island getaways or high rise condominiums with views to die for just because the rest of the market hits hard times. In addition, folks who are wealthy enough to afford such properties in the first place are also wealthy enough to carry them as they weather the market downturn.

Tags: Florida, living, markets, real estate

I was reading about some interesting research recently conducted by a professor at the University of Central Florida. Seems his analysis shows that current home values are just about where they would have been had the real estate bubble of 2005-7 not occurred. According to Professor Stan Smith, “most homeowners are within 6% of where they would have been had there not been a housing bubble. The people who have been here since prior to 2005 should not have been hurt,” though he also added: “… a lot of people who did buy in 2005 and 2006 obviously were hurt significantly.” However, a long-term view of the Florida real estate market reveals that even though prices rose and fell dramatically in recent years, they appear to have settled back into more normal historic patterns.

Tags: Florida, markets, real estate

In a recent independent national poll conducted by IHS Global Insight Regional Estate Service, two destinations in Florida appeared in the top five most undervalued places to live in the United States.

The first Florida destination to appear in the poll is the cosmopolitan, quaint, and cultural city of Naples. Known as the “Crown Jewel” of the Southwest Florida gulf coast, Naples offers residents plenty of golf, beaches, and fishing in an enchanting and sun-drenched environment. And, after home prices plummeted by nearly 50% from the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of this year, real estate in this upscale community looks increasingly tempting to buyers. IHS Global Insight considers the median home price in Naples to be $200,000 or 33% undervalued.

Tags: Florida, living, markets

By any standard, population growth in Southwest Florida has slowed from the torrid pace of 2000-2006. However, it still ranks near the top when compared to the rest of the country.

The Cape Coral-Bonita Springs-Ft. Myers metropolitan area (Lee County) dropped one spot to the fourth fastest growing metro area while the Naples-Marco Island metropolitan area (Collier County) fell to the 16th fastest growing metro area for the time period 2000-2007.

The rankings are based on the percentage of growth, not the actual number of people. Lee County’s population grew by 33.9% (150,000) and Collier County’s by 25.6% (65,000) from April 2000 to July 2007.

Tags: growth, markets