CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — A recently released real estate report named Charlotte County as one of the most vulnerable markets for a downturn, and stated it had the highest foreclosure rates in the country in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The report, compiled by ATTOM Data Solutions, states that 561 properties in the county filed foreclosure cases during that time, 1 in 198 properties were at risk of foreclosure and that 14% of properties were underwater on their mortgage.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on ATTOM's real estate data:
Despite a bleak report, Peter Rivera, broker-owner of RE/MAX Palm and RE/MAX Platinum Realty in Port Charlotte said the data doesn’t tell the full story of the local market.
“I wouldn’t say downturn, I would say it's more of a leveling off,” said Rivera.
Rivera said the market is stabilizing after a housing boom prior to, and during covid. He added that the inventory levels are returning to normal after those years of high demand, prices and low supply.
“We are seeing the time on the market go up, but it has gone up from almost an unhealthy level to something where it's more manageable,” said Rivera. “We had almost a negative inventory during those lean years.”
While the foreclosure numbers may sound alarming, he said the data in the report can be misleading. According to Rivera, only 14 single-family homes of more than 3700 on the market are bank-owned foreclosures.
“It's not doom and gloom, the market has changed and we’re not seeing the 20-30% increases year-over-year, that has slowed down and in many ways it's better for everybody,” said Rivera.
Additionally, despite concerns that a wave of hurricane-damaged homes could flood the market, Rivera said that hasn’t happened.
“We haven’t seen a huge amount of distressed properties hitting the market,” he said. “We’ve seen some investors actually come looking for these homes and finding there’s not as many as you think.”
What has caused a rift in the market, according to FGCU Lucas Professor of Real Estate Shelton Weeks, is affordability.
“The cost of home-ownership has increased rather dramatically,” said Weeks. “And that has put some purchasers in a somewhat precarious situation in terms of their budget.”
He said between inflation, skyrocketing insurance prices and stagnating incomes, owning a home has become unaffordable for some people.
“It puts them in a dangerous situation in terms of being able to have the cash flow needed to continue making payments on their homes,” said Weeks.
