Forbes magazine named Cape Coral, FL the number 10 place in the U.S. for real estate investment in its annual analysis, released January 27, 2016. The publication determines the top 20 markets based on affordability, job and population growth, anticipated home price, and property appreciation.
As with Cape Coral, home prices in most cities on the list remain lower than they should be compared to other U.S. cities of similar composition, but homes in Cape Coral have increased in value since the turn of the century, according to City Data. In 2013, the median house or condo had a value of $158,800, a significant rise from the 2000 median value of $106,500. In 2013, the median gross rent was $1,098, compared to the U.S. median of $905, according to the website Department of Numbers.
Forbes favored cities with the strongest employment growth. Cape Coral’s service industry continues to boom to serve its growing population and vacationers. According to City Data, the town boasts an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent in contrast with the national unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS combines Cape Coral with nearby Fort Myers in a single Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), but even taken together the MSA has an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent.
Steady growth understates the booming coastal city with a plus 62.1 percent growth since 2000. In 2013, the population reached 165,831. It remains a small city with a 99 percent urban populace, states City Data.
Home prices remained affordable in the area due to a combination of the above traits. As Forbes noted, Florida attracts retirees, second-home buyers, and investors, but the economic downturn experienced in the last few years in the U.S. had kept retirees and vacationers from buying. That caused Cape Coral housing prices to drop. With the economy strengthening again, the seaside town has a new influx of buyers reaping the benefits of low purchase prices. The new influx of residents spurred a rise in service jobs, causing an increase in renters. The need for more rentals created a positive market for investment property purchasers, also know as, landlords.