THURSDAY'S CUP: No bad publicity? Saying may prove true

The saying is that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Maybe.

A mostly negative story in USA Today about the stalled recovery of the Fort Myers housing market had people wondering whether it might attract more buyers, which could be good for the area.

The national newspaper says Fort Myers home sales fell in June compared with the same month last year because of the BP oil spill, the end of the home-buyer tax credit and the temporary lapse of the federal flood-insurance program.

It's not exactly the kind of news that gets the chamber of commerce excited. But national attention about Fort Myers low housing prices may outweigh any negative perceptions because it might attract more prospective buyers. The City of Fort Myers' Twitter post linked the story and quoted the story's headline: “Fort Myers has home bargains as real estate market recovers, median sales price +12% over last year.”