ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
The cost of living skyrocketed this year as Southwest Florida continued to grow and as it works to rebuild after Hurricane Ian. As we prepare to close out 2022, WINK News decided to take a look back at the past year’s crazy rent prices and revisit a series we did seven years ago called: “Where do we grow from here.” Flags were flying, and signs were lined up everywhere telling people that luxury was available for rent in Southwest Florida, but for what price? Rental advertisement in Southwest Florida. (Credit: WINK News) “The prices were going up,” said Jessica Powell. She lives in Denver after moving there from Fort Myers, partly because of growing costs. “Everything is so seasonal in Southwest Florida as far as when tourists are down, and snowbirds are down. So I kind of needed to be in an economy where there was more opportunity year-round.” WINK News first met Powell in 2015 when she worked in a local salon as a hairdresser. Her salary was based on commission, and when her marital status changed, she had to cut corners. She and a friend moved in together with three sons between the two of them. Fast forward to 2022, and the signs are still there, but the supply isn’t as great, and rental costs continue to soar. Commercial real estate broker Gary Tasman helped us crunch numbers in 2015. “As the demand went up, and the supply stayed constant, rents went up.” WINK News caught up with him again, and he feels it’s a similar story but with an Ian twist. “It’s just supply and demand. Everybody wants to be here, and we can’t build them fast enough. It’s not like 2008, where we were just building them, and we didn’t know who was going to live in them. It was an investor-driven market today is an owner-user-driven market. And because of that, until we get supply and demand in balance, unfortunately, we’re gonna still see increases,” said Tasman. “What the hurricane did was just take some of the older products offline and create more demand for what was there. That’s why we’re seeing the increases.” (Data provided by Cushman & Wakefield) This chart tells a story. The red line is a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in Naples. The average price in 2015 was nearly $1,400. In 2021, it was nearly $2,000. In December 2022, more than $2,400. It is the same situation in Fort Myers, which is represented in green. In 2015, rent for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment was around $1,200. It has grown to nearly $2,000 a month. In Punta Gorda, represented in yellow, prices have just about doubled from seven years ago to today. Tasman doesn’t expect any immediate relief. “Our workforce in Southwest Florida has 18,000 more people than it did at the beginning of the year. So, you know, we’re continuing to grow. And we’re going to see that growth. I mean, look at the massive construction projects that we’re seeing at the airport, for example, that creates jobs and creates ripple effect demand. Look at the expansion that’s happening at FGCU. Look at the big company expansions that we’re seeing, like Uline and Amazon, and other companies that are looking at our area and committing to this area,” Tasman said. Powell’s advice to people trying to find a place to rent is, “I usually stay with private landlords because I find them to be more fair and you just have to kind of accept that you don’t have all the bells and whistles.” As for whether she’d ever come back, “I would at least snowbird for sure.” Tasman expects, down the road, many of those snowbirds will turn into year-round transplants. “Rents will stabilize. Rents cannot keep increasing at the rate that they are. So I predict that rents will definitely stabilize over the next 12 months,” said Tasman. “I think Southwest Florida is on solid footing with a very sound foundation from which to grow from where we are.”