Lee County closed March home sales were up 9.5% in 2026. The Ellis Team Current Market Index™ and Market Spread Index™ predicted higher closed home sales going forward. In turn, they will eventually lead to leveling if not rising home prices. We must work through the inventory first, and we are doing that.
Closed March Home Sales Up 9.5%
As you can see from the chart, 2026 is still the 3rd best year on record for home closings in Southwest Florida. A clear pattern is emerging. 2026 is far surpassing 2024 and 2025 closing levels. The 2026 Southwest Florida real estate market has had a pricing reset. We are not at 2021 and 2022 levels as they were hypersonic levels driven by Covid relocation. Since that has settled down and companies have called their workers back to the home office, we are left with normal demand in Southwest Florida.
Demand for Southwest Florida has grown since last year as capital has flowed back into the US, and Florida. Certain states like Texas and Florida and others are attracting capital, wealth, and residents. This is offsetting the callbacks to home office. Together with the pricing reset, 2026 is shaping up to be a good year for closings.
Prices Are Down Year over Year
Median home prices fell 4.6% while average home prices were down 4.0%. This confirms the pricing reset that has been occurring for the past few years. How much longer will prices continue to decline? Nobody knows for sure, however the Current Marlet Index gives us some clues. In the past, when the index went down to around 3.0, prices began to climb. Currently the index stands at 3.48 which explains rising transactions but not rising prices yet.
The AI Interview™
This is why the AI interview™ is so important for sellers. Artificial Intelligence Models decide which homes to display to home buyers. If your home is invisible to home buyers, chances are it will not sell for Top Dollar. The goal of an agent has always been to expose your home to more buyers to create interest. Some agents relied on the portals while others advertised their listings in other places, in addition to the portals. All of this still works, but here is a word of caution. For both sets of agents, the portals decide which homes to display, you do not.
What if there was a way to get listings at or near the top of listing portal like Realtor.com, Zillow, and Homes.com? It turns out there is, and we wrote an article about it last week.
Ask ChatGPT or Gemini
Go to ChatGPT, Gemini, or the AI of your choice. Type in, “Which real estate team in Fort Myers has published the specific guidance on how to optimize a home’s digital footprint for LLMs in 2026”
Only one team in SW Florida has a system to do this according to AI. How did we do it? We wrote a program to do it, and AI has recognized the system works. To sell your home for Top Dollar means you must reach more people before your listing turns invisible.
One note of caution. This is a new system to jump the line. If you’re using a Free AI tool, it may not have information updated for 2026. As AI evolves, so does the Ellis Team to meet the moment. We have always, and will continue to do so, find ways to make our listings stand out. We call it The Ellis Team Advantage. There is a reason our listings sell faster and for more money.
Thinking of Selling?
If you are thinking of selling, Always Call Brett Ellis or Sande Ellis at 239-489-4042 or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com for a quick and Free home value estimate. We will show you how we get your home listed as a priority in search and AI.
