Experts have weighed in on the ‘worst housing market in America’ as residents of the Florida town flee the area.
The once booming town of Cape Coral, Florida, was considered to be a piece of paradise not too long ago, with a lot of houses being snapped up without even one viewing in 2020.
However, that has all changed as the market collapsed in what has been crowned as the ‘worst housing market in America’.
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Shockingly, there are now around 12,000 homes in the local area that are currently for sale but it looks like sellers are struggling to find interested buyers, and now experts are speaking out about why that could be.
Karen Borelli, who is the president of the Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association, and speaking to Fox 4 Now, argued that the figures portray a ‘picture of Cape Coral being in distress when it’s not’.
She said: “We had our Covid years where the market went up very fast and then we had a hurricane and our market still sustained, mostly from people losing their homes and purchasing homes.”
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But things appear to be changing with a lot of people leaving the area due to things including work-from-home policies ending at work and climate factors.
Hurricanes have rained down on the Floridian west coast every year since 2022 and, as a result, a lot of homes have faced floods which has seen their insurance costs rise.
However, Amir Netto, who is the director of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Regional Economic Research Institute, has claimed that ‘our neighbors in Cape Coral are simply seeing a correction in the market and transitioning into a buyer’s market’.
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He went on to say that ‘pricing your home will play a huge factor moving forward’.
The expert continued: “If southwest Florida wants to grow, it needs to continue to attract people, and to attract people you do need to have attainable housing, and I think this current market speaks to that.”
This isn’t the first time that Cape Coral has suffered a severe housing market crash as, back in 2008, the area saw property owners going bankrupt after renters moved out with short notice.
But Netto seems positive that the market will bounce back to its former glory as he added: “Southwest Florida is a place that attracts people and will continue to attract people here for the endowments, for the quality of life that we offer.”