SWFL home buyers see low interest rates; agents see quick sales

Reporter: Andrea Guerrero Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Credit: WINK News.

There is a hot real estate market in Southwest Florida in the middle of the pandemic. Homes are selling fast in the region. September saw the highest number of home closings since 2016.

The housing market is experiencing a trend during the pandemic: People are leaving their homes, hitting the road and heading south.

“Right now, there is a spike in the industry,” said Yaremi Morales, the managing broker with Abella Real Estate. “It’s kind of crazy.”

Galen Scott and his family are packing up their house in South Carolina to become Southwest Florida community members.

“We’re super excited to move down there and start the next chapter of our lives,” Scott told us during a Zoom interview.

That new chapter in life will include lots of time on the water and in the sun.

“I’m retiring, and all I want to do is fish,” Scott said. “So I couldn’t be in a better place.”

It seemed be an optimal time for Scott and his family to make a move.

“The interest rate was amazing,” Scott said. “I got a 2.25, which is the best interest rate I’ve ever seen as far as getting a house.”

While the number of available homes is low, it’s the low interest rate that is motivating buyers.

“Back in January last year, I was working with buyers, and they got 5.2%,” Morales said. “So when you compare it with the interest rates that we have and today close or around 3%.”

When we spoke to Morales she had sold three homes in the last 24 hours. The housing process on Scott’s end has been pretty good too.

“We got preapproved like three days before we went down there,” Scott examined. “We went down there; we found the house; we seen the house the first day; put a bid on it; the next day, it was accepted.”

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