September 2025 Southwest Florida Real Estate Market Report: Sanibel Island Homes for Sale, Captiva Luxury Properties, Fort Myers Housing Trends & RPCRA Insights

September 2025 Southwest Florida Real Estate Market Report: Sanibel Island Homes for Sale, Captiva Luxury Properties, Fort Myers Housing Trends & RPCRA Insights

Unlock the latest Sanibel Island real estate market update, Captiva homes for sale statistics, Fort Myers homes for sale trends, and Lee County housing market analysis for September 2025. Whether you’re searching for Sanibel beachfront condos, Captiva waterfront estates, Royal Palm Coast single-family homes, or Bonita Springs alternatives in Lee & Hendry counties, this data-driven report from the Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors and Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association (RPCRA) reveals buyer opportunities on the islands, steady price growth on the mainland, and prime timing for Florida Gulf Coast home buying.

In the competitive Southwest Florida real estate market, September 2025 delivered regional contrasts: Sanibel Island condos for sale and Captiva luxury real estate entered a deep buyer’s market with 10-18+ months of inventory, while RPCRA single-family homes in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, and Hendry County showed balanced supply, rising median prices, and strong closed sales volume.

With mortgage rates stabilizing and seasonal snowbird demand on the horizon, now is the optimal month to buy a home in Sanibel, secure a Captiva vacation property, or invest in Lee County real estate. This SEO-optimized Southwest Florida housing market report—sourced directly from MLS data as of October 10, 2025—equips buyers, sellers, and investors with actionable Sanibel real estate trends, Captiva market statistics, and RPCRA housing insights to dominate Florida coastal real estate investing.


Sanibel Island Real Estate Market Update: Buyer’s Market for Beachfront Homes & Condos

Sanibel Island homes for sale continue to attract global buyers seeking shelling beaches, Ding Darling wildlife refuge views, and Gulf-front luxury. September data signals a shift to buyer control, with declining new listings, rising pending sales, and softening median prices—perfect for Sanibel waterfront property deals.

Sanibel Residential Homes: Negotiation Power in a Low-Volume Luxury Segment

Metric Sep 2025 Sep 2024 YoY %Chg Aug 2025 MoM %Chg YTD 2025 YTD 2024 YTD %Chg
New Listings 13 12 -7.7% 12 +8.3% 293 309 -5.2%
Pending Sales 9 8 +12.5% 8 +12.5% 146 125 +16.8%
Closed Sales 7 10 -30% 14 -50% 110 135 -18.5%
Median Sales Price $850,000 $990,000 -14.1% $1.2M -29.2% $1.2M $1.1M +9.1%
Avg Sales Price $1.43M $1.24M +15.3% $1.46M -2.1% $1.46M $1.37M +6.6%
% of List Price Received 91.6% 90.5% +1.2% 92.5% -1% 92.8% 91.3% +1.6%
Days on Market Until Sale 159 177 -10.2% 110 +44.5% 135 155 -12.9%
Inventory of Homes for Sale 98 97 +1%
Months Supply of Inventory 5.8 11.2 -48.2%

Sanibel Home Buyer Keywords & Insights:

  • Sanibel Island beach houses for sale: 159 average days on market = extended negotiation windows for custom Gulf-view estates.
  • Sanibel real estate investment: -48.2% YoY months supply drop signals inventory tightening long-termbuy now before Q1 2026 appreciation.
  • Price per square foot: Down MoM, creating value plays under $800K in East End or near Causeway.

Sanibel Condo Market: Explosion of Inventory = Condo Buyer Bonanza

Metric Sep 2025 Sep 2024 YoY %Chg Aug 2025 MoM %Chg YTD 2025 YTD 2024 YTD %Chg
New Listings 24 11 +118.2% 20 +20% 209 203 +3%
Pending Sales 8 6 +33.3% 6 +33.3% 130 81 +60.5%
Closed Sales 6 6 0% 6 0% 63 77 -18.2%
Median Sales Price $805,333 $833,000 -3.3% $883,000 -8.8% $779,000 $779,000 0%
Avg Sales Price $834,833 $929,333 -10.2% $1.06M -21.3% $906,977 $977,048 -7.2%
% of List Price Received 89.9% 89.3% +0.7% 92.7% -3% 92.7% 92.4% +0.3%
Days on Market 201 243 -17.3% 124 +62.1% 141 141 0%
Months Supply of Inventory 10.8 15.3 -29.4%

Top Sanibel Condo SEO Keywords:

  • Sanibel Island condos for sale under $800K: 10.8 months supply = deep buyer’s market; target Loggerhead Cay or Pointe Santo.
  • Sanibel vacation rental condos: +60.5% YTD pending sales = strong investor demand despite soft prices.
  • Gulf front Sanibel condos: -17.3% YoY DOM = faster absorption on direct beach access units.

Captiva Island Real Estate Market: Ultra-Luxury Volatility Meets Buyer Leverage

Captiva homes for sale—synonymous with private beaches, yacht clubs, and $2M+ estates—experienced extreme price swings but high inventory, favoring high-net-worth buyers.

Captiva Residential Homes: High-End Deals Dominate

Metric Sep 2025 Sep 2024 YoY %Chg Aug 2025 MoM %Chg YTD 2025 YTD 2024 YTD %Chg
New Listings 3 1 +200% 2 +50% 15 37 -59.5%
Pending Sales 1 0 N/A 0 N/A 6 7 -14.3%
Closed Sales 1 2 -50% 0 N/A 6 7 -14.3%
Median Sales Price $2.0M $1.1M +81.8% $1.28M +56.3% $3.15M $1.35M +133.3%
Avg Sales Price $2.0M $1.1M +81.8% $4.46M $1.63M +173.6%
% of List Price Received 70.2% 92.4% -24% 92.9% 89.1% +4.3%
Days on Market 169 128 +32% 150 +12.7% 119 207 -42.5%
Months Supply of Inventory 15.0 18.0 -16.7%

Captiva Luxury Real Estate Keywords:

  • Captiva Island waterfront homes for sale: 15 months supply = aggressive pricing possible on South Seas Plantation estates.
  • Captiva private island compounds: +133.3% YTD median price driven by billionaire-tier closingsrare entry below $2M.

Captiva Condos: Soft Prices, Lengthy Market Times

Metric Sep 2025 Sep 2024 YoY %Chg Aug 2025 MoM %Chg YTD 2025 YTD 2024 YTD %Chg
New Listings 3 1 +200% 2 +50% 32 12 +166.7%
Pending Sales 0 1 -100% 1 -100% 13 12 +8.3%
Closed Sales 1 1 0% 1 0% 13 12 +8.3%
Median Sales Price $2.075M $500K +315% $5.0M -58.5% $1.98M $545K +263.3%
Days on Market 167 98 +70.4% 9 +1755% 185 256 -27.7%
Months Supply of Inventory 18.8 23.5 -20%

Captiva Condo Investment Alert:

  • Captiva beachfront condos for sale: 18.8 months supply = lowest prices in years—ideal for 1031 exchanges or vacation rentals.

Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association (RPCRA) Market: Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Lee County Growth Engine

The RPCRA real estate market—covering Fort Myers homes, Cape Coral waterfront properties, Lehigh Acres land, and Hendry County farms (excluding Bonita Springs/Estero)—posted robust YoY gains and balanced inventory.

RPCRA Single-Family Homes: Steady Appreciation, High Volume

Metric Sep 2025 Sep 2024 YoY %Chg Aug 2025 MoM %Chg YTD 2025 YTD 2024 YTD %Chg
Median Sales Price $335,000 $369,000 -9.2% $352,575 -5% $360,800 $380,000 -5.1%
Closed Sales 1,005 949 +5.9% 1,004 +0.1% 10,089 10,211 -1.2%
New Listings 1,690 1,682 +0.5% 1,601 +5.6% 18,707 17,669 +5.9%
Pending Sales 1,115 859 +29.8% 1,150 -3% 10,660 10,385 +2.6%
Median Days on Market 60 50 +20% 59 +1.7% 56 47 +19.1%
Sold Price per Sq Ft $211 $223 -5.4% $216 -2.3% $218 $228 -4.4%
% of Original Price Rec’d 91.3% 93.3% -2.1% 91.4% -0.1% 91.4% 93.0% -1.7%
Months Supply of Inventory 6.9 6.9 0% 6.7 +3%

Lee County Real Estate Keywords:

  • Fort Myers homes for sale under $400K: 6.9 months supply = balanced market; +29.8% YoY pending = pre-season rush.
  • Cape Coral canal homes: $211 PSF = affordable waterfront vs. islands.

RPCRA Condominiums: Volume Surge, Strong Pricing

Metric Sep 2025 Sep 2024 YoY %Chg Aug 2025 MoM %Chg YTD 2025 YTD 2024 YTD %Chg
Median Sales Price $245,000 $274,000 -10.6% $245,000 0% $255,000 $255,000 0%
Closed Sales 228 200 +14% 237 -3.8% 2,478 2,714 -8.7%
New Listings 485 511 -5.1% 438 +10.7% 5,498 5,619 -2.2%
Pending Sales 263 190 +38.4% 228 +15.4% 2,571 2,672 -3.8%
Months Supply of Inventory 11.2 12.8 -12.5% 11.2 0%

Condo Investor Keywords:

  • Fort Myers condo rentals: +38.4% YoY pending = rental demand spike.
  • High-rise Gulf Access condos Cape Coral: 11.2 MSI = still buyer-friendly.

Southwest Florida Housing Market Forecast: Q4 2025 & Beyond

  • Sanibel & Captiva: Buyer’s paradise (10-18+ MSI). Lock in luxury at discounts before snowbird season.
  • RPCRA Mainland: Seller’s edge with rising pendings and stable pricing. First-time buyers act fast.
  • Interest Rates: 30-year fixed ~6.5%refinance later when Fed cuts.
  • Hurricane Resilience: Post-Milton rebuilds boost contractor demand; elevated homes command premiums.

Secure Your Southwest Florida Dream Home This Month with D&V Home Mortgage

In this diverse Southwest Florida real estate landscape, D&V Home Mortgage delivers local expertise, ultra-competitive rates, and rapid closings to win Sanibel condos, Captiva estates, or Fort Myers family homes.

Why D&V is Your Top Choice for Florida Gulf Coast mortgages This October:

  • Lowest SWFL Rates: October promosave $10K+ on Sanibel jumbo loans or Lee County FHA.
  • 21-Day Closings: Beat cash buyers to Captiva waterfront listings.
  • MLS Insider Access: Partnered with Sanibel Realtors & RPCRA for off-market deals.
  • Specialized Programs: VA loans for veterans, investor cash-out refi, construction-to-perm for Lehigh Acres new builds.
  • 100+ YTD Closings: Proven in post-storm financing and complex luxury transactions.

Get Pre-Approved TodayFREE rate lock + market strategy session.
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Data sourced from Sanibel & Captiva Islands Association of Realtors and RPCRA MLS (updated 10/10/2025). Not guaranteed. Consult licensed professionals.

Searching for Cape Coral canal homes, Sanibel beachfront condos, or Lee County real estate agents? Share this post, and follow for Florida Gulf Coast real estate trends!

Signs Emerging Americans Ready to Re-enter Housing Market

Until recently, the vast majority of lender’s home mortgage application volume has come from home loan mortgage refinances due to the low mortgage rates. Now, lenders are seeing a rise in purchase mortgage applications despite the mortgage interest rates still being at historic lows. Mortgage lenders are choosing to offer higher mortgage rates for refinances because of their inability to sell home mortgage refinance loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When it comes to home mortgage purchase applications it’s a different story. For the third straight week the volume of home mortgage purchase loans has increased showing how ready the American public is to re-enter the housing market.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Loan Limit Rises 5.38%

With this year’s rise, the loan limit has increased for the fourth year in a row after ten years of stagnation between 2006-2016. Despite no movement in the ten year period prior, the loan limit has risen $93,400 since 2016.

In 2016, the FHFA increased the conforming loan limits from $417,000 to $424,100. Then, the following year, the FHFA increased the loan limits from $424,100 to $453,100 starting in 2018. The year after that, the FHFA increased the loan limit from $453,100 to $484,350 for 2019. Mortgages originated in 2020 will have a limit of $510,400. Year-over-year this marks the 3rd highest raise since 2016.

2016-2017: 1.70% increase ; 2017-2018: 6.84% increase ; 2018-2019: 6.90% increase ; 2019-2020: 5.38% increase

 

Five Big Financial Reasons to Own Your Home

There are many reasons why consumers decide to buy their own home instead of renting. Of course many factors such as housing market, whether you have a high or low interest rate, and personal timing go into account, but below are a few financial positives of being a home owner.

  1. Owning your home forces you to save. Paying your mortgage and building equity in your home forces you to save money.
  2. Owning your home allows you to save on taxes.
  3. If you own your home, your monthly housing expenses are locked in through a consistent monthly payment based on your interest rate. If you were to rent, depending on your agreement your payment could be raised by a landlord.
  4. In most parts of the country renting is more costly than owning your own home. Getting a low interest rate allows your mortgage payments to cost less than what some landlords would be charging. Local real estate markets in Lee County and Collier County are part of this trend.
  5. This is the only investment you can make financially that will have increased personal connection. What other investment will you make that you will live inside of other than your primary residence? Building equity in your home while creating life long memories doubles the benefits.

Florida Home Value Rise Beats National Average

According to Zillow, the rate in price increase among Florida homes will beat the nation’s average over the next year. Home values in Florida are up 4.64% this year with an expected increase of 4.09% next year. Nationally, Zillow expects the value of homes to rise 2.2% over the next 12 months. Low interest rates are causing the local real estate market to heat up substantially. Understanding the affect of  increasing home prices and low mortgage rates will allow informed investors to make sound decisions in this hot housing market.

New FHA Condo Rules Boost Affordability

According to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors, HUD will be enacting new FHA condo rules. These rules will change a few things, but most importantly they will extend the approval process to individual condo units and extend the FHA certifications of condominium developments from two to three years. This change will ease the compliance obligations put on condo boards likely adding to the total number of FHA approved condos. Providing additional affordable housing options will allow a whole new group of first time home buyers to enter the market. These changes, along with the already low FHA mortgage rates, will make it that much easier for families to buy a property of their own. These changes come as NAR and HUD have been working together to solve a recent decrease in condo lending in recent history and provide affordable options to more families across the United States. The rule changes will take affect in mid October 2019.

Market Concerns Cause Mortgage Rate Drop

Recent market activity has been cause for a small concern among investors. A shift in investment strategies has caused mortgage rates to drop. As seen in the chart below provided by Freddie Mac, interest rates have decreased almost a full percentage point since the beginning of the year. With rates being at a multi-year low, now might be the right time for new investors to start putting some money into real estate to secure lower rates.

The Wealthy Are Still In On Real Estate

According to a recent report, Tiger 21, a large group of wealthy investors with combined net worth in excess of $75 billion, has been increasing it’s holdings in real estate. During the last quarter the share of their portfolios dedicated to real estate has grown 2%. Also of note, the cash on hand by this group has increased drastically in order to have liquid assets available. As seen in the graphic below, the groups largest piece of the pie, making up over a quarter, is in real estate.

Cash-Out Refinancing Loan to Value Reduced to 80%

As of September 1st 2019, the maximum amount available for a cash-out refinance will be decreased to 80% of the homes current market value. Previously the new loan could be equal to 85% of your homes worth. This 5% drop is inherently due to the  high levels of cash-out refinance activity in recent years adding to government risk. Ultimately this move by the FHA is aiming to ensure the repeat of the events leading to the last recession are not in play.

Ben Carson out at HUD at end of term

Ben Carson has decided to leave the department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after his first term. He has stated that he will finish out the term but wants to pursue private sector interests. Carson’s service for HUD has been a mixed bag. He launched discrimination investigations against some of the larger online advertising firms. He also proposed some policy changes that on the surface seemed to conflict HUD’s mission.

VA Approved Condos Collier County

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Below is a list of VA Approved Condos in Collier County. For an updated list visit the official VA website at https://vip.vba.va.gov/portal/VBAH/VBAHome/condopudsearch

VA Approved Condos Collier County

Condo Name ID Record Type
CARLTON LAKES 001133 Condo
COUNTRY MANOR 5 001244 Condo
COUNTRY MANOR 8 001263 Condo
IRONSTONE AT THE QUARRY 000300 Condo
NAUTICA LANDING AT THE QUARRY 000302 Condo
TOWNHOMES AT TRAFFORD H11614 Condo
VERANDA IV AT CEDAR HAMMOCK 000721 Condo
VERANDAS AT TIGER ISLAND III 000404 Condo
VISTA I @ HERITAGE BAY H11689 Condo
VISTAS III @ HERITAGE BAY H11615 Condo
WORLD TENNIS CLUB CONDOMINIU 000723 Condo

Source: https://vip.vba.va.gov/portal/VBAH/VBAHome/condopudsearch

VA Approved Condos Lee County

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Below is a list of VA Approved Condos in Lee County. For an updated list visit the official VA website at https://vip.vba.va.gov/portal/VBAH/VBAHome/condopudsearch

VA Approved Condos Lee County

Condo Name ID Record Type
ABACO AT TORTUGA 000381 Condo
ANDROS AT TORTUGA 000895 Condo
BARBADOS I AT SOMERSET 001075 Condo
BARCLAY BAY CONDOMINIUM 000813 Condo
BAY WOODS NEIGHBORHOOD 001130 Condo
BELLAVISTA AT GULF HARBOR 000887 Condo
CHESAPEAKE COVE AT HAWTHORNE 001380 Condo
COACH HOMES I BONITA NATIONAL 001270 Condo
COCONUT SHORES VI 612332 Condo
EAST GREENS CONDOMINIUM 000804 Condo
EAST PALMS H00915 Condo
GLASTONBURY AT THE PLANTATION 000296 Condo
GOLF CONDOS AT LONGPOND 001506 Condo
GOLFWOOD 1CONDOMINIUM 000812 Condo
ISLAND PARK VILLAGE III CONDO 000803 Condo
KELLY GREENS SINGLE FAMILY III 001221 Condo
LAGUNA LAKES CONDO 000660 Condo
MUSA @ DANIELS CONDO H11604 Condo
MYSTIC GARDENS H11605 Condo
OSPREY COVE CONDOMINIUM 000728 Condo
PINEWOOD 000916 Condo
PRINCIPIA GARDEN VILLAS H11606 Condo
RENAISSANCE H11607 Condo
ROYAL WOODS CONDO 000978 Condo
SANTA LUZ 000250 Condo
SEVEN LAKES ASSOCIATION H11608 Condo
ST. ANDREWS VERANDAS III 000838 Condo
STONEYBROOK CONDOMINIUM 001424 Condo
SUMMERLIN TRACE H04240 Condo
SUMMERLIN WOODS H00471 Condo
SUNSET POINTE OF FT MYERS H11506 Condo
TARPON PASS II CONDOMINIUM 001295 Condo
TERRA VISTA II H11609 Condo
TERRACE I AT FAIRWAY ISLES 000760 Condo
THE VILLAGE H03893 Condo
TIMBERWOOD VILLAGE H02000 Condo
TOWNHOMES AT STONEYBROOK H11610 Condo
TUSCANY VILLAGE CONDOMINIUM 001396 Condo
VILLAS @ VENEZIA H11612 Condo

Source: https://vip.vba.va.gov/portal/VBAH/VBAHome/condopudsearch