Readers liked our recent column on the most expensive zip codes in the three Lee County towns with the most residential properties, and they wanted In the Know to expand on it to the next trio of big county communities.
And that one came after we’ve written a bit about Naples ranking with some of the priciest properties in America.
We had found that among Lee’s big three, Bonita Springs had the priciest median with more than $640,000 led by the activity going on west of U.S. 41 including Bonita Bay and the sandy gulf beaches of Barefoot and Bonita. And Fort Myers addresses had the most sales so far this year, with about 1,700.
So here’s a sampling of what you asked and talked about.
“Thank you for your efforts to bring relevant and topical local news to the people of Southwest Florida,” reader Andrew Siegrist said. “I would be interested to read how Lehigh stacks up statistically. (My) wife and I walk extensively in the central area of Lehigh, and there are no less than 100 houses being built at any given moment just within a 2-mile radius of our house. All of the houses we see are being built individually, where ever a builder can buy a suitable lot. Consequently, they don’t get the attention that a new housing development gets.”
“Estero is the hot bed for new construction homes ― WildBlue, RiverCreek, Corkscrew Shores. Verdana Village. The Place at Corkscrew, Corkscrew Estates” and others, said Dennis McLaughlin, managing broker and owner of Naples Realty International, noting the numerous shopping options: “Miromar Outlets, Coconut Point, Gulf Coast.”
A third one we’ll have numbers for today is North Fort Myers, which Lee County Economic Development Director John Talmage said, is “becoming a real hub of activity.”
Talmage provided updates on endeavors we’ve mentioned before, including one involving a billionaire sports owner interested in U.S. 41.
“North Fort Myers is really taking a turnaround,” Talmage said. “Stan Kroenke, who owns the Los Angeles Rams, has been buying property in North Fort Myers. He owns 200 million square miles of real estate in the United States and Canada. He’s married to the Walmart fortune so they also own (U.K. soccer’s) Arsenal, the Denver Nuggets. The fact that he’s in North Fort Myers is a significant boost to North Fort Myers. (He) is buying big property on 41, as much as he can.”
As a starting place and as we’ve reported, he’s purchased at least 20 acres between Diplomat Parkway and Littleton Road, with housing in mind. Other projects making progress are the ongoing redevelopments of the Merchants Crossing and Hancock Square shopping centers in that corridor and the Metro Development Group’s 751-acre Brightwater Lagoon enterprise along Pritchett Parkway off Bayshore Road and east of Interstate 75.
“It’s a Lagoon community that is the second one in the state to be built. First one is in northern Tampa,” Talmage said of the effort that has more than 1,400 homes slated to go with amenities built around a massive manmade lake. Look for “tiki bars and water sports and swimming areas for children.”
So with these three towns in mind, here’s what we found in our statistical research on median sold prices with the help of ATTOM, a property data source. Note that some of the zip codes can throw us off a bit. Places that maybe you and I believe should be considered the Estero area show up with a Fort Myers address. Officially, Estero’s zip code is 33928. At the very least, we will include 33967, which borders Estero Parkway, but moves away from the official village.
Here’s more to know.
What 6 Lee communities have highest total of residential properties?
Overall, Lee has more than 368,000 residential properties compared to the 221,000 for Collier. Let’s count down Lee’s Top 6 with the most home addresses, in the 30 days from about mid-April to mid-May:
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6. Estero, 18,317. So far, it has had 252 sales in 2024. Last year, it was 1,029 overall.
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5. North Fort Myers, 23,804. So far, it has had 320 sales in 2024. Last year, it was 1,476.
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4. Lehigh Acres, 40,243. So far, it has had 875 sales in 2024. Last year, it was 2,107 overall.
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3. Bonita Springs, 40,610. So far, it has had 501 sales in 2024. Last year, it was 2,414 overall.
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2. Cape Coral, 93,115. So far, it has had 1,210 closed contracts. For all of 2023, it was 5,023.
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1. Fort Myers, 121,746. So far, it has had 1,692 transactions. In 2023, the total was 7,532.
In the Know What’s costliest place to live in Fort Myers, Cape and Bonita? Where’s Wayfair opening?
What are median sold prices for 6 biggest towns in Lee County, Florida?
Real estate: Where in SW FL is highest housing inventory surge? How much higher than everywhere else?
How do zip codes in Lehigh Acres, Florida rank on median closed prices?
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33973: $366,759 – Triangular, centered by Westminster club, moving from State Road 82/Gunnery Road corner.
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33972: $364,852 – North of Lehigh Resort Club, borders include Sunshine, Lakeridge and Joe boulevards.
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33976: $338,311 – Loosely bordered by S.R. 82, Alabama Road and Gunnery but not quite to Lee Boulevard.
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33971: $336,601 – Funky backward L-shape wrapped outside of Buckingham to northeast end of Sunshine.
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33974: $332,196 – From Calumet Road/S.R. 82, loosely extends to Alabama Road and Sentinela Boulevard,
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33936: $327,966 – Oddest of zips, it generally follows narrow strip from Townsend Canal to Ibis Landing Golf.
Where do you pay more for home in the Estero area, based on median?
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33928: $555,276 – Bay-bordered, south of Corkscrew Road and Estero Parkway to parts of Coconut Road.
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33967: $413,174 – Includes San Carlos Park; loosely bordered by Estero Parkway, I-75, Alico Road and U.S. 41.
Where do you pay less for home in North Fort Myers, based on median?
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33917: $351,170 – East of Business U.S. 41 all the way to State Road 31 including Suncoast Estates.
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33903: $320,904 – Generally west of Business U.S. 41 to the Cape Coral border and north to Charlotte line.
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez ([email protected]) grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. He writes In the Know, one of USA TODAY Network’s most read local news columns in the state. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Priciest places in Lehigh, Estero, NFM? Where’s LA Rams owner buying?
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