Lee County foreclosures stay low in May

Lee County continued its streak of pre-recession-level foreclosure numbers in May while residential home permits for the month showed continuing strength.

Lenders filed a mere 188 foreclosure lawsuits in May, according to statistics released Monday by the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investment Association.

May's number came on the heels of April's 195 foreclosures, the lowest since mid-2006.

That returned the county to a time before the avalanche of defaults that followed the implosion of home prices at the end of 2005.

Complete numbers for home permits issued throughout the county weren't available Monday but early indications were for a strong home construction market.

Builders in unincorporated Lee County pulled 88 permits in May, up from 68 in April and 80 in May 2013.

In Cape Coral, 56 permits were pulled. That was up from 54 in April and 42 in May 2014.

"Welcome to the new normal," said Jeff Tumbarello, director of the investment association and owner/broker of Steelbridge Realty in North Fort Myers. "We're pretty much just a normal market again and with twice the national cash percentage, that's a beautiful thing."

Tim Rose, president of Fort Myers-based Arthur Rutenberg Homes, said May's numbers reflect the number of new residences sold about two months earlier, when sales were solid but "relatively quiet."

However, he said, "The second quarter picked up quite a bit" both in Southwest Florida and around the state.

The late season came as a surprise, Rose said. "It's unusual. Nobody has been able to put their finger on it. Has the weather affected people being able to get down here?"

Tumbarello said he expects the continuing drought in foreclosures to keep the market for existing homes tight without the constant flow of homes being taken back by lenders and re-sold.

Also, he said, there should be upward pressure on prices because buyers won't be able to buy cheap from banks forced to sell large numbers of houses they've taken back.

"Now they've got to buy the home from the guy who's owned it for who knows how many years and isn't concerned with blowing it out like the bank," Tumbarello said.

Besides Cape Coral and Lee County, numbers were released by Sanibel (three permits) and Fort Myers Beach (one permit). Numbers from Fort Myers and Bonita Springs weren't available Monday.

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