According to the Bonita Springs-Estero REALTORS® (BER), reported buyer views on REALTOR.com for the Bonita Springs and Estero residential real estate market exceeded a whopping 32+ million search result pages views, making January 2021 the highest on record prior to 2015. According to REALTOR.com, the top cities with search result page views for Bonita Springs and Estero are Chicago, New York and Detroit, and the most searched metro market in Florida is the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro market, which includes Bonita Springs and Estero. The most searched county in the state of Florida is Lee County, which makes up 47.8 percent of all Florida searches on REALTOR.com, with Collier coming in second at just 17 percent. While this only represents REALTOR.com, several other online aggregate real estate directories also show increased search activity for Bonita Springs and Estero.
Interest and desirability in the Bonita Springs and Estero markets continue to increase; mostly due to changing lifestyles and working remotely. “Over the last year, we’ve seen buyer lifestyle changes that support working from home or home schooling, requiring more space,” stated BER CEO, Meighan Harris. She adds, “Many buyers in the market right now are looking to make a permanent move to the area simply because they can live and work remotely from Southwest Florida.” Additionally, with inclement weather taking hold of most of the country right now, many are rethinking their primary residential location, flocking to Bonita Springs and Estero to find their new warm weather home.
More good news for the market includes the incremental increase of the median sales price. Over the last 12 months, the median home price has increased incrementally by approximately 1 percent each month, which indicates a sustainable increase. “The incremental increase in the median home price suggests normalcy,“ stated Adam Ruud, Managing Broker, Domain Realty, Bonita Springs. Ruud adds, “Incremental increases, as opposed to large, unrealistic increases, are a sign of a healthy real estate market, but it does not mean sellers should overprice their property.” Area brokers advise sellers to work with their REALTORS® to assess an accurate price based on market value to ensure offers are made and appraisals are met, as an overpriced home will not make it to the closing table.
Another notable increase in activity is in the luxury home market, specifically those properties priced at $2 million and above. In January 2021, the luxury market experienced an 87 percent increase in closed sales. “It seems we’ve come full circle in the market, going from a desire to downsize to a new desire to upsize once again,” stated Angela Parker, Broker/Owner, Local Real Estate, Bonita Springs. She added, “The desire to upsize comes with the need for more space to accommodate working and playing from home, which is a top buyer priority right now.”
Overall, while pending and closed sales are both up by 68+ percent, inventory is still trending very low at just 2 months’ supply of inventory available. Area brokers maintain that the Bonita Springs and Estero markets will continue to see robust sales activity throughout the remainder of the winter selling season and into the upcoming spring season. As of January 2021, there were 61 combined price repositions for the single-family and condominium markets, marking the lowest number of price repositions since prior to 2019. The current number of active homes available in the Bonita Springs and Estero markets sits at just 516 active listings for both single-family and condominiums combined.
The bottom line? Sellers who price their homes to market value will most likely sell and buyers must move very fast to secure the property of their choice, as delays could mean no deal on the table.
The Bonita Springs-Estero REALTORS®January 2021 Report shows these overall findings for both single family and condominiums combined.
To view this report, visit www.BonitaEsteroRealtors.com.
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