Lee County Commissioner, Enlightens and Communicates Tourism Efforts & Clean Beaches!

While the chances of some oil making it to the east coast remain high, their misfortune is Southwest Florida's gain! Some media outlets and reporters are whispering what experts and locals have been telling everyone for months... there's a "Less than 1% Chance of oil making it onto Southwest Florida beaches". Unfortunately, the local media has echoed similar sentiments on some broadcasts in recent weeks but without much impact on the National and International (tourists) viewers that some local business and hotel owners are trying to reach. They wish the National News would inform everyone that "Southwest Florida is Open for Business!" and the oil is only in the panhandle of Florida.

On Thursday July 8th, I had the privilege, along with a few of my colleagues to listen to a short presentation by Tammy Hall, the chairman of the Lee County Commission. Following our discussion she did a Q & A with about 12 of us. Tammy Hall was recently awarded the title of "Estero Chamber Political Person of the Year" for 2010. The information she shared about what the commission is working on varied from cutting spending to balance the county budget, thereby eliminating any property tax increases for the average property owner to instituting change to the states renewable energy credits to benefit companies like Algenol Biofuels who generates renewable energy from Algae. Commissioner Hall also touched on how state mandate prevented the use of tourism reserves for anything other than the new stadium for the Boston Red Sox spring training, a concert hall or similar type venue. She also spoke on tax benefits to lure businesses and diversify the job base in Fort Myers, Bonita Springs & Estero area as well as the print and TV advertising the tourism bureau recently embarked on as a response to the oil spill to let people know there was no oil on ANY Southwest Florida beaches. Her depth of knowledge and the things she is involved in are fascinating and I found it incredibly enlightening.


One of the most interesting comments made by Commissioner Hall in response to the misinformation out there and some jittery tourists was that "A new national conversation is beginning to circle that there is Less than 1% chance of oil coming onto the beaches of SWFL. This was some very welcome news to everyone in the room who has been repeatedly asked for weeks, if not months about the oil on our beaches, and repeatedly responding "There is no oil". One of my clever colleagues has been responding with, "The only oil on Southwest Florida beaches is Suntan Oil".

You can read my recent post on the Gulf oil spill and see video on How Southwest Florida will likely stay Oil Free HERE

See a profile of some New Construction Developments & Homes in the Naples Area HERE

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Properties are selling in Southwest Florida... video from NBC (below)

Sales are up 80% in Lee County, Bonita Springs Estero, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island & Captiva Island!



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Garren Grup, REALTOR®, GRI...

Noteworty Results in Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero & Fort Myers!

Fort Myers, FL: April Home Sales Up 32% From Last Year

Inventory of unsold homes declining


We have continued to see an increase in sales and the amount of positive press about the local real estate market in Southwest Florida over the past few weeks as new sales data has come in. I think the most interesting statistic to come out is the current absorption of inventory which I think has been under publicized and provides both buyers and sellers with a more comprehensive view of the market. The most current absorption rate for single family homes is 9.9 months considerably lower than the 23 months of inventory that we saw in December 2007.

Special to Florida Weekly-
The Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers & the Beach (which includes Bonita Springs & Estero) reports that a total of 684 existing single family houses were sold in April. That's a 32 percent increase in the number of single family houses sold compared to last April. In addition, 1176 single family homes are pending, reflecting a 47.2 percent upswing since April, 2007. Most encouraging are the absorption(supply in months) rates, as the current absorption rate for single family homes is 9.9 months, well below December 2007 when there was nearly 23 months of inventory up for sale.

The median sales price is $180,000, up 21 percent from 2003 levels, but down from year ago by 16 percent. Moderately priced inventories are moving as buyers are taking advantage of the lower interest rates and the affordable property values in the market. Based on the 4-month trend, it is anticipated that existing single family home sales will out-pace 2007 sales by 30 percent. "It is apparent that buyers are seeing the value of homes in Southwest Florida and are entering the market at increasing numbers."

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