Southwest Florida housing market is in a topsy-turvy spot post-Ian

Hurricane Ian, in addition to the loss of life and property damage, has also set up something of battle of words (and the use of data) over the status of the Southwest Florida housing market.

One on side are reports that show the market in plunge-mode in pockets of Southwest Florida. One example: A study from Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University, which tracks overvalued housing markets on a monthly basis, ranked the Cape Coral-Fort Myers market as the No. 1 overheated housing market, with homes selling at a 70.43% premium.   

Another report, from housing data and real estate brokerage Redfin, found that pending home sales fell 58% year over year in the Cape Coral market in the four weeks ending Oct. 16, which includes some 20 days post-Ian. That’s nearly twice the nationwide decline of 32%, adds the report, released Oct. 20. Not far behind Cape Coral lies Naples, where pending home sales decreased 52% in the same time frame, and North Port, in south Sarasota County, which fell 51%.