The number of permits pulled to build single-family homes in Fort Myers and Cape Coral rose? in March to levels not seen in more than a year.
Even with Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach figures not available, municipalities in Lee County reported a total of 147 permits: 69 in Fort Myers, 43 in Cape Coral, 34 in the unincorporated county and one in Sanibel.
Permits in the unincorporated county for 16 new commercial structures were valued at more than $3 million, compared to $2.6 million in February. In March 2011, commercial permits were valued at $39.9 million, due mostly to Park Royal Hospital ? a psychiatric facility valued at approximately $21.8 million in the HealthPark medical campus.
The number of foreclosure lawsuits filed in the county during March increased to 794 from February?s 636 and March 2011?s 365, according to statistics released Monday by the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investment Association.
Bob Knight, vice president and co-owner of Cape Coral-based Paul Homes, said there?s been a surge of prospective retirees or second home buyers in recent months who are watching prices slowly creep up.
?Just in March I had six contracts,? he said. ?I haven?t done that in quite awhile.?
He?s optimistic about the prospects for the city?s broader economy. ?We?re hiring subcontractors, and now the money?s flowing that?ll go to the mechanics, the restaurants.?
Foreclosures are also rising but Jeff Tumbarello, director of the real estate investment association, said it?s unlikely the county will see a repeat of the?avalanche that followed the implosion of the residential real estate market in early 2006.
Mainly the increase is coming from national banks that withdrew or never filed large numbers of foreclosures when questions came up two years ago about sloppy paperwork and problems lenders had proving they actually owned the note, he said.
?Forty-one percent of the lis pendens (foreclosure suits) were by Bank of America or Wells Fargo,? Tumbarello noted. Article courtesy of the Fort Myers News-Press.?? Search all Fort myers area real estate
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