Southwest Florida home prices fall nearly 9%, but rebound expected

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (WINK) — Southwest Florida home prices continue to drop, but experts say that could soon change.

New data from February show several local cities saw the largest price drops in the U.S. That includes Cape Coral, Punta Gorda and Naples, which led the country with an almost 9% drop compared to the same time last year.

Brian Helgemo, a Punta Gorda realtor, says prices are cooling down from red-hot pandemic highs when people flooded Florida. He says sellers are lowering their prices and homes are spending less time on the market.

"We had a correction after COVID," Helgemo said.

He says the mindsets of buyers and sellers have narrowed significantly compared to a few years ago.

"The mindset of the buyers and sellers was about this far apart a few years ago, and it's we're pretty much right here," Helgemo said.

Selma Hepp, chief economist at real estate data analytics firm Cotality, says the market is flattening out as investors snap up homes in Southwest Florida to flip.

"We're sort of bouncing around the floor right now," Hepp said.

She said the market has seen enough of a price reset, and some of these markets are now considered normal rather than overvalued.

"We've seen it, enough of a price reset, and some of these markets are not now considered normal, what we call normal. They're no longer overvalued," Hepp said.

Lower prices are good for buyers but not so much for sellers or homeowners who lost equity. Both Hepp and Helgemo expect home sales to increase in the spring.