Looking Forward in May
At the end of April Ray and I had one of the sweetest real estate transactions that we have ever been a part of. We had a cute ranch style home listed for sale. Great location, well taken care of, just a good smaller home. This particular Sunday Ray was hosting the Open House when in walked a smiling woman in her 80’s who had just ridden her bicycle several miles to check out
the Open House. She told Ray she was selling her house a few miles away because it was time to sell.
She shared she was selling a home she had been in for decades. Our listing was in one of her favorite neighborhoods; she rode her bike through it almost every day. Ray gave her our card and let her know if she wanted to tour the home again to call us. Well, a few weeks passed before she called. When she did, she said she wanted to see the house again and to bring her son and daughter-in-law to see the home too. So, when the showing day arrived, they all rode over on their bicycles.
Meanwhile my seller was working two jobs and looking to move closer to family. Selling this home was the first step to some HUGE life changes. She would be leaving the town she had called home for over a decade, changing jobs, moving to another town, and purchasing a home there. Big life changes.
The bike riding lady made an offer on the house. Some robust negotiating took place. Buyer and Seller came to an agreement and a few weeks later the home had a new owner. The seller purchased a home close to her new job, and her family. It all came together for these two in a sweet set of circumstances.
These two women’s lives crisscrossed as both were making big moves and major life decisions that were both exciting and bittersweet. Moving homes was such a physical representation that both of them were moving on in their lives. As we worked with both women and all the details of selling and buying, I was blessed to be able to be a small part of their stories and see how
compassionate they were to each other. Even though they hadn’t met, both wanted to do the right thing for themselves as well as the other person because they cared about the other woman’s happiness. The 80 year old woman said it so beautifully when everything was finalized, “Today is the day to look forward. No more looking backwards.”
May Stats and Data
As our sweet customer said, “Today is the day to look forward”. Ray and I are anticipating the Southwest Real estate market will continue to move forward in a steady pattern. For “stats and data” we will look at the current SOLD market in several towns. And like the women in our story who were moving forward in their lives and acknowledging their history we will take a quick look at last years SOLD data for comparison to 2024.
The data will focus on SOLD single family homes in four markets. The town names are hyperlinks to the town.
Venice: historic downtown on Venice Island always enchanting. In the last 100 days there have been 503 closed sales. Price range from $211k to $2,5M. What did the January to May market look like in 2023? So glad you asked. There were 531 closed transactions. And the price range was from $155K to $1.7M . Seems the market value increased a smidge and sales stayed steady in Venice.
Wellen Park : one of the fastest growing planned communities in the Nation. In 2024 from January to May there were 127 closed transactions (that is about one new neighbor a day) with a price range of $392K to $1.8M. In 2023 in the same time frame there were 119 sold homes with a price range of $392K to $1.4M. Again, seems the market is staying healthy.
Punta Gorda: Quaint town overlooking Charlotte Harbor This year in the last 100 days there were 494 closed sales with a price range of $94K (total fixer-upper) to $3,1M. The year before the area had 388 closed sales with a price range of $125K to $1.6M.
Englewood nice beach town with terrific boating water . This year 236 homes sold for $103K to $4.8M. Last year 201 homes sold for $206 to $8.0M.
The market in our region is staying steady with over 4 months of inventory of homes for Buyers to choose from. Sellers on average are getting about 95-98% of their list price. The real estate market in our area is moving forward. I think we all can agree we are glad the crazy market is behind us and real estate is behaving in a healthy pattern.
Check out this market video from the Florida board of Realtors:
Enjoy looking at a few homes in the Venice area. Each of these homes are listed by Coldwell Banker agents. Click the addresses below the pics for the details ...
Here are a few articles about the market...
Quick read from the NAR Chief Economist
Tips about the Mortgage Process
Now this article is just for fun--Random Real Estate Market Facts...
FUN real estate Facts
And we want to leave you with this happy thought!
Ray and I are always grateful when you refer your family & friends to us as your GO-TO Realtors
