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Henderson Franklin was again honored to sponsor 2022 Market Trends, which took place on March 16, 2022, with speakers Randy Thibaut, founder of Land Solutions, Inc., Denny Grimes, President of Denny Grimes & Team at Keller Williams Realty, and Justin Thibaut, CEO of Land Solutions, Inc.

The presentation discussed the current conditions of the real estate market in Southwest Florida and provided a future forecast about what the market may look like in the coming year. The presentation also focused on the primary areas of the real estate sector: residential development, resale properties, and the commercial market.

Overall, the end of 2021 was a continuation of the rapid growth that comprised 2020 and 2021, as waves of new residents and businesses entered into the market. All sectors of the market are currently seeing growth, but nowhere is this more evident than with residential development and resale, as low inventory coupled with high demand has prompted price fairly dramatic price increases across the three counties of Lee, Collier and Charlotte. The ultimate question, however, will be whether this will continue or will the market begin to decline as prices continue to creep up higher.

Residential Development

real estateIn 2021, Southwest Florida saw a 47% increase in new single-family residential permits issued amongst the three counties, with Lee County seeing the highest increase of 59%. Total residential permits increased 39% percent to approximately 25,000 permits. These percentage increases, while dramatic, still pale in comparison to the number of permits issued in 2005, which numbered around 44,000 permits prior to the crash in 2008. Similarly, multi-family residential permits increased by 19% over the last year.

These numbers illustrate that low resale inventory is driving up the prices, leading buyers to seek new construction and rental properties. Presently, the current inventory of resale properties cannot match the demand of new homebuyers entering the market, leading to homes rising in value by as much as 77% in some areas over the last year.Continue Reading The Pulse of Southwest Florida Real Estate: A Recap of 2022 Market Trends

Florida Gulf Coast University recently released the January 2022 edition of the Southwest Florida Regional Economic Indicators. The report shares economic data for the region, including an update on the real estate market status across the coastal counties of Lee, Charlotte and Collier. Overall, the report indicates that the real estate market is leveling off after fairly dramatic swings brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Building Permits

Single-family building permits, the metric which indicates the number of new homes under construction, saw an increase of 40% from November 2020 to November 2021. Yet, while this growth indicates increases in new construction from earlier stages of the pandemic, a comparison of more recent numbers actually shows a slow decline over the latter half of 2021.

For example, at the peak of the pandemic housing boom in May 2021, approximately 1,100 new single-family permits were issued by Lee County. However, that number dropped over 18% to roughly 900 permits the County issued by November 2021. These numbers seem to indicate that in the early stage of the pandemic, new construction fell off, likely due to concerns over the economy, material and supply shortages, labor shortages, and a variety of other pandemic-related factors.

In 2021, Florida attracted thousands of new residents seeking to enjoy warmer weather and less stringent COVID restrictions. However, it appears now the population influx into the state may be beginning to slow, which in turn is resulting in a leveling off in new construction. Whether this pattern continues now that more seasonal residents are returning to the area remains to be seen.

Existing Single Family Home Sales & Active Listings

Continue Reading State of the SWFL Real Estate Market

Henderson Franklin was proud to sponsor the real estate event Market Trends, which took place on Thursday, September 9, 2021, at the Caloosa Convention Center, downtown Fort Myers. The speakers included Randy Thibaut, CEO of LSI Companies, Denny Grimes, President of Denny Grimes & Team at Keller Williams, and Justin Thibaut, President of LSI. The presentation focused on the real estate market in Southwest Florida in 2021; and, more specifically, on three major areas of the market: new residential construction, the residential resale market, and commercial real estate. The following provides a brief recap of the presentations.

Continuing the trend from the second half of 2020, both the residential and commercial markets in Southwest Florida sustained their momentum. New homebuyers continue to flock to the region and developers are trying to keep up with demand.

New residential construction market

new constructionThe total number of new building permits for single-family and multi-family in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties has continued to increase. 2020 saw a total of 18,418 residential permits issued. The year-to-date total for residential permits issued in 2021 currently sits at 14,272, with the projected total by year’s end estimated to be 23,400 permits issued. The past 12 months have seen a double-digit percentage increase in new permits in all three counties. Lee County saw an 11% increase, Collier a 22% increase, and Charlotte with an astounding 50% increase.

As was the case in 2020, individual communities continued to see astounding growth. The top three communities were Ave Maria, Babcock Ranch and Isles of Collier Preserve. To showcase that the residential market continues to grow, look no further than Babcock Ranch, which in 2020 saw 533 new building permits issued to various builders. It currently stands at 691 residential permits issued to various builders in 2021.

While the big builders like Lennar, DR Horton, and Pulte continue to dominate the market, we have seen a comeback for the small builders, with over 6,000 permits issued to these builders. An interesting new trend taking place in Southwest Florida is the build-for-rent model. This model appears to be aimed at a younger generation looking for homes, but wanting more financial flexibility. It will be interesting to see how this trend continues over the coming years.

While at some stage the market will likely level off, demand in the residential market looks set to continue in 2021 and the foreseeable future in Southwest Florida. As homebuyers continue to move into the region, developers look to continue buying up land and building single-family and multi-family units.

Residential resale market

Continue Reading Experts address the current state of the Southwest Florida real estate market

Henderson Franklin was honored to sponsor 2021 Market Trends, which took place on March 9, 2021, with speakers Randy Thibaut, founder of Land Solutions, Inc., Denny Grimes, President of Denny Grimes & Team at Keller Williams Realty, and Stan Stouder, founding partner of CRE Consultants, LLC. The presentation discussed the real estate market over the last year in Southwest Florida. The following provides a summary of the event and what the speakers forecast the market to look like in the coming year. The report focused on three areas of the market: new construction, the resale sector, and commercial real estate.

Overall, 2020 saw sluggish growth in the first part of the year, as the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic injected fear into the market. The second half of the year saw tremendous rebounds in the residential sector. These rebounds were largely due to increasingly stringent and long-lasting shutdowns in Northern states, which brought thousands of new homebuyers to Southwest Florida.

New Construction Residential Market

In terms of the new construction market, 2020 saw an initial dip in the early part of the year, but, overall, the total number of new building permits amongst Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties increased an average of 16% across the board. Charlotte County saw the most growth with a 28% increase in new building permits.

Individual communities are also seeing tremendous growth. Leading the way in Southwest Florida was Babcock Ranch with 533 new building permits issued to various builders in 2020. However, prices for new construction, along with rent prices, rose throughout 2020, indicating that supply cannot match demand.Continue Reading The State of Southwest Florida Real Estate – A Recap of 2021 Market Trends

Market Watch 2016Tuesday night’s sold out Market Watch 2016 event was held at the Harborside Event Center with over 1,100 attendees and featured presentations from real estate experts Randy Thibaut, Denny Grimes, and Stan Stouder.

Mr. Thibaut announced a 44% increase over the last year in building permits for Lee, Collier, and Charlotte Counties. Importantly, he reminded attendees that a large portion of the permits were apartment and assisted living units, which have been “white hot” in Southwest Florida lately. In fact, the Lee County apartment market is one of the best in the nation and has increased eight fold from 2014 to 2016, according to Mr. Stouder’s statistics.

Increase in Multi-Family Housing Continue Reading Market Watch 2016: “Tapping the Brakes on the Real Estate Market” in Southwest Florida