Report: Cape Coral tops list of buyer's markets in nation

Two areas along the Florida's Gulf Coast are among the top 10 buyer’s markets in the United States, according to a March report from home improvement site Fixr.com. Cape Coral-Fort Myers is No. 1 on the list, while North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton is No. 8 for those buying real estate.

A buyer’s market is characterized by more inventory than there are buyers. Because there is less competition with more properties on the market, sellers frequently lower prices. There tends to be more time on the market for homes in a buyer’s market.

To compile its list of the top buyer’s markets, Fixr.com used data from Zillow, which compared the for-sale demand and supply as of early January.

There were 5,593 listings in Cape Coral as of the end of February, according to Zillow, which reports the median list price was $358,500, while the median sale price at the end of January was $311,733. About 78.8% of sales went for under the list price, and it has been taking a median of 60 days to get to pending status. The average home value in Cape Coral is down 6.9% since last year, Zillow reports.

In Sarasota, there were 5,733 listings at the end of February, according to Zillow, which reports the median list price was $481,300, while the median sale price at the end of January was $433,500. Approximately 84.5% of sales went for under the list price, and it has been taking a median of 37 days to get to pending status. The average home value in Sarasota County is down 7.1% year-over-year, according to Zillow.

Half of the top 10 buyer's markets in the United States are in Florida, according to the list from Fixr.com.