Southwest Florida sees housing construction boom

Housing is in high demand, with Southwest Florida’s Cape Coral-Fort Myers area seeing the second-largest increase in single-family homes in the country and construction of new apartments also rising, and one group that studies population says it is a good sign for our area.

“I think it’s meeting demand, I think there’s likely very low inventory in your area,” said Andy Kerns, creative director of Digital Third Coast. “It’s quite literally putting new spaces for families to live under the market. I think it’s also a reason to be optimistic. It’s a sign of economic recovery, coming out of the pandemic, you know, this could have gone a number of different ways. But I think it gives a lot of people hope to see new homes being built and new families moving into them.”

According to an Omnis report on new home construction, in September alone, permits were approved for almost 1,000 new units to be built throughout Southwest Florida. In Lehigh Acres, Carlton Park will have 71 units; Beach Road Villas has been approved for 48 units, Estero Vista 144 units, the retirement community Del Webb Oak Creek 418 units and Palm Pointe Shoppes 263 units.

On top of all this, there will soon be a large apartment complex, also near Palm Point Shoppes in Fort Myers, which will include a pool and a dog park.

“With your area being number two in the nation, it is remarkable in that sense, in that you’re leading the recovery and the bullishness in the new construction market,” Kerns said.

That ranking comes from comparing the first six months of 2020 to the first six months of 2021.