TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Feb. 15, 2010 – Vacant residential lots are looking better and better to real estate investors.

The cost of a finished, ready to build lot, can cost a developer about 25 percent of the finished home price. There are a number of these ready-to-go lots on the market at about half what they actually cost to prepare. Investor groups are snapping them up, figuring that the time will come soon when they will be in demand.

“The country needs 1.2 million new units for the next 10 years just because of population growth,” says Scott Clark, president of American Development Partners, which has bought thousands of vacant lots all over the West. “[U.S. builders] built about 500,000 units in 2009 and 600,000 units in 2008, so there eventually will be pent-up demand. We want to get as many of those finished lots as we can because as demand begins to rise, the need for housing will become painfully obvious. The delta (ratio of change to value of underlying asset) in this investment will be significant.”

Source: Inman News, Steve Bergsman (02/12/2010)

The Cape Coral/Fort Myers area was recently recognized as being one of the top 10 most affordable housing markets in the world, according to an international survey. The survey originated from Demographia Inc., which ranked Cape Coral/Fort Myers seventh in the world. Lee County was behind some of the most economically depressed areas in the nation, including Detroit, Flint and Lansing, Mich. According to Realtor statistics, the median home price in the greater Lee County area was between $89,000 - $90,000 in December 2009. A total of 1,340 homes were sold in that month, an improvement of more than 300 homes from December 2008. Realtors on both sides of the bridge are not surprised by where Cape Coral and Fort Myers ranked on that list. They say now is the time to buy, especially if you’re someone who’s looking to stay in the new home for three to five years. “It’s extremely affordable right now,” said Christie Knight, president of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers. “We strongly believe our momentum will increase because of the extended tax credit for first-time home-buyers, and because interest rates are historically low. We feel very confident.” The inventory of existing homes has decreased year over year, and Realtors are feeling optimistic about 2010. Most feel the bottom has already been hit, and there isn’t anywhere to go but up, though a new round of foreclosures is expected to hit the market sometime soon. Paula Hellenbrand of Encore Realty and a former president for the Cape Coral Association of Realtors said the number of foreclosures is deceiving, and that many of those properties are “evaporated” before they ever hit the market