Cape Coral-Fort Myers home values continue to fall

November 18, 2008

Source: News- Press by Dick Hogan

Home values in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area fell 19.6 percent in the third quarter to a median value of $177,718 compared to a year ago, according to statistics released today by Seattle-based housing information company Zillow.

The report also states that 30.4 percent of all homeowners in the area are “upside down”: they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth. For those who bought at the peak of the market in 2006, 79.1 percent owe more than their homes’ worth.

A plan announced Tuesday calls for federally controlled mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to help people adjust their mortgages, but only those who are upside down or nearly so.

Of Cape Coral-Fort Myers homes that sold in the past year, 38.6 percent were sold for a loss.

Nationally the report’s numbers were grim but not as bad as Lee County with home values falling 9.7 percent from a year earlier. This is the second consecutive quarter of declines, which are continuing to accelerate.

Approximately one in seven, or 14.3 percent, of U.S. homeowners are upside down on their mortgages, but for those who bought in 2006, it’s 44.8 percent. Foreclosure sales accounted for 18.6 percent of homes sold in the third quarter, up from 14.5 percent in the second quarter.

Nearly a third, or 30.2 percent, of U.S. home sales in the past 12 months were sold at a loss, up from 23.7 percent in the second quarter.