Fewer bargains in Fort Myers

Sales of existing single-family homes in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers fell 27% in July, but the drop isn't as dire as the numbers might look at first blush.

Fact is, investors snapped up cheap homes last year at a record pace. Those homes were widely considered the low-hanging fruit of real estate, so it's no surprise that the number of sales fell from 1,570 in July 2009 to 1,139 in July of this year.

And in July, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area reported more than double the number of existing home sales than Miami, where Realtors sold 593 homes.

Because there are fewer cheaply priced homes, the median price of an existing home in Cape Coral-Fort Myers rose 5% in July compared with the same month a year ago. In this economy, we'll take a 5% return on our money any day.