CLEWISTON, Fla. — Home values in Clewiston are rapidly on the rise - in fact, they’re up 14.7% since just last year according to Zillow. So Clewiston's Community Correspondent, Austin Schargorodski, met up with a local realtor to ask why the prices are going up so much.
“Basically, the supply and demand is out of place - there’s way more demand than there is supply,” said LeLani Hare, a real estate agent at Sugar Realty in Clewiston.
Hare said Clewiston draws a lot of people looking for a quiet, rural lifestyle, and that’s exactly what Robert Nodarse says made him want to move here.
"I love this place - it’s amazing. It’s quiet and peaceful. You hear the birds in the morning and the neighbors are nice,” said Nodarse.
Nodarse owns a few bakery’s in Miami and spends a lot of time there, and emphasized that Clewiston is his escape from the rush, saying, “It’s always bumper to bumper. All that hassle with all those people. But here, you haven’t even seen one car pass by!”
Plus, Nodarse says homes in Clewiston offer room to store his classic cars, which is hard to find in Miami. Now, he says he’s in the process of closing on his new home.
However, Nodarse explained that finding his dream home there wasn’t so easy, saying, “I’ve been on the lookout for six months and I wanted a house on this street. So yeah, it was a challenge. So, when I saw this one for sale I was like, ‘That has to be my house’.”
But, even with the high home values, Hare said she doesn’t expect more people to sell.
“There’s nothing new for them to move into - there’s no new development. So, that’s a problem that arises for them. Okay, you’ve capitalized on all this appreciation from your home, but what are you going to use that money for to move into in Clewiston if you want to stay here? There’s nothing new for them,” Hare stated.
On March 29th, Schargorodski reported on Clewiston firing its city manager and bringing in an interim manager. Hare said she believes this could lead to more housing inventory in the future.
“That could be the golden egg. He’s all about development so maybe we could get some projects going around town,” said Hare.
Now, with his new home on the horizon, Nodarse said he’s looking forward to settling into the Clewiston lifestyle.
“I feel like I’m living in a resort to tell you the truth. Yeah,” said Nodarse.
