Clerk of Court forecasts better times ahead

Few people have been as close to the foreclosure crisis as Charlie Green, Lee County's Clerk of Court.

Green is perhaps best known lately for the implementation of the “rocket docket” that cleared thousands of foreclosure cases through the judicial process in the Fort Myers area. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area was one of the hardest-hit regions of the country because of the real estate collapse.

Because residential values fell by about 50% in Lee County since hitting peak in 2005, Green says he has a “gut feeling” the winter season and 2012 will be busy as homebuyers snap up deals. “This is going to be a great year,” he told a recent gathering of executives in Fort Myers.

Green says one reason for his optimism is that the area is getting some good press. For example, financial-news channel CNBC recently named Fort Myers as the second-best place in the country to buy a vacation home because of the price decline and the large inventory of homes on the market.