Sales of existing homes in the Greater Fort Myers area were up an astonishing 154.6 percent in January 2009, with a total of 830 properties sold versus 326 during January ’08. Short sale and bank owned properties continue to influence market prices, as the median price dropped to $89,000, which is below 2003 levels.

There were 10,801 single-family homes for sale in the Greater Fort Myers area during the month of January and sales activity remains steady with 2,562 properties pending, an increase of 400 percent versus the prior year. Currently, there is an estimated 4.2 month supply of inventory, which is one fifth of that available in January ’08, when the inventory supply was nearly 21.5 months.

“Last year we predicted that sales of existing single family homes for the year would surpass 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 levels. We are extremely pleased that in fact, the sales pace was much greater than anticipated and we look for 2009 to surpass the record sales set in 2005,” said Association President Suzanne Sherer. “We believe that sales volume will continue to grow as lenders have priced properties aggressively to move them and now that inventory levels are under five months, we are seeing properties receive multiple offers.”

The Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc. is a member-based organization founded 84 years ago.