Sales Volume Improved 9.6% Even as Prices Reached Their Lowest Point in Three Years
The Fort Myers housing market is selling more homes at lower prices, and that is the story of early 2026. Buyer activity is climbing while inventory shrinks, yet sellers who aim too high are watching their listings expire and come back to market at a rate higher than any other Southwest Florida city. The difference between a quick sale and a months-long ordeal comes down to one decision: the first asking price. Here is what the February data shows about what is working, what is stalling, and what it costs to get that number wrong. For regional context, see the Southwest Florida housing market update.
Key Takeaways (TL;DR)
- Fort Myers closed 433 sales in February 2026, up 9.6% year over year, with dollar volume rising 4.0% to $189 million despite the median price decline.
- Inventory fell 21.0% to 3,506 homes, and months of supply dropped from 10.6 to 7.9, the sharpest tightening since the market correction began.
- Nearly one in three active listings (31.9%) has already failed to sell in the past 12 months and returned to market, the highest relist rate among the five major Southwest Florida cities.
- Homes that sold on their first attempt closed in a median of 49 days. Homes that required a relist spent 219 total days and sold for $42,500 less than their original asking price.
- The competitive market (listings under 90 days, first-attempts or meaningful relists) shows just 4.2 months of supply, meaning well-positioned homes face roughly half the competition that overall numbers suggest.
The Fort Myers Housing Market Is Seeing More Buyers and Fewer Listings at the Same Time
New listings fell 22.1% year over year, from 1,082 to 843. Active inventory dropped to 3,506, well below its March 2025 peak of 4,484. Pending contracts held steady at 582, a modest 1.4% dip from last February that reads as neutral rather than weak. Showings per listing rose 17.9% to 3.3, confirming that buyer interest is building even as fewer homes enter the market. Mortgage rates fell from 6.76% to under 6% over the past year, which helps buyers who finance, though roughly four in ten Southwest Florida purchases are cash transactions where rates play no direct role.
Prices Reflect a Changing Sales Mix More Than Broad Collapse
The 12.2% median price decline looks alarming in isolation, but context matters. Fort Myers covers a wide range, from manufactured homes under $100,000 to Gulf-access estates above $10 million. A 12.2% median move often reflects which price tiers happened to close in a given month. Price per square foot, which adjusts for the mix of homes that happened to sell, fell 9.0%, a meaningful decline but one that has decelerated from the 12% to 15% drops seen in mid-2025.
Dollar Volume Tells the Activity Story
Dollar volume rose 4.0% to $189 million. More transactions at lower per-unit prices still generated higher total volume.
Pricing Accuracy Determines Everything in Fort Myers Right Now
The Fort Myers housing market currently carries 3,492 active listings, 783 pending, and 1,593 sold within the last 120 days. The listing-level data shows a market where outcomes diverge dramatically based on the first pricing decision.
The Relist Picture
Of those 3,492 active listings, 1,114 (31.9%) previously failed to sell within the past year. Not every relist reflects a pricing mistake. Some homes return after agent changes, seasonal market pulls, or shifts in the seller’s circumstances. That said, eighty-one percent of returning sellers reduced their price by a median of 6.7%, which points to pricing as the dominant factor. The remaining 19% came back at the same or higher price, a strategy the data does not support.
Among the 429 relisted homes that eventually sold, the median final sale price was $345,000 against an original asking price of $385,000, a gap of $42,500. Those sellers spent 219 days on market across both attempts, compared to 49 days for homes that sold on the first try. The financial cost of overpricing is steep.
Where the Real Competition Lives
Overall months of supply stands at 8.8. Remove stale inventory (180-plus days) and stubborn relists, and the number drops to 6.5. Isolate the competitive market, listings under 90 days that are either first-attempts or relists with a meaningful price reduction, and it falls to 4.2 months. That is mid-range for the region, tighter than Bonita Springs (4.4) but wider than Estero (3.6), which holds the tightest competitive supply in the region. Fresh first-attempt listings carry a median of 26 days on market.
The Ask-Bid Gap
Active listings are priced at a median $218 per square foot. Recent sold homes closed at $206 per square foot, a 5.5% gap. That is the second-narrowest gap among the five cities, behind Estero’s 4.5%, which means Fort Myers listings are closer to market reality than most of their neighbors. By comparison, Cape Coral carries a 13.3% gap and Naples sits at 16.6%. The disconnect that does exist concentrates in the $750,000-plus tiers, where relist rates climb to 35% to 39%.
Closed Comparables Are Setting the Pace in Fort Myers Featured Communities
Across Fort Myers’s featured communities, roughly one in four active listings represents a home returning after a prior attempt to sell. What a home sells for continues to depend more on how it is priced and how much competition surrounds it than on how many buyers are in the market. The communities where sellers price to recent closed sales are seeing contracts form within 30 to 50 days, which is a useful benchmark for anyone evaluating their own timeline.
Verandah
- Active Listings: 60
- Sold (Last 120 Days): 30
- Homes Pending: 18
- Previously Listed Share of Active: 40.0%
- Months of Inventory: 8.0
- Median Sold Price: $538,750
- Sellers Received: 94.9% of asking price
Verandah carries the highest share of returning inventory and the deepest supply among Fort Myers featured communities at 8 months. Returning sellers typically adjusted their asking price by 7% to 8% before finding a buyer, with some adjustments reaching 15% to 20%. The days on market tell two stories here: properties that closed did so in a median of 54 days, while the overall active pool averages over 100. The community’s 21 sub-communities create a wide range, from Idlewild condos under $270,000 to single-family homes above $1 million. With that much variety, the most reliable pricing guide is closed sales of similar homes within the same sub-community rather than Verandah-wide averages. For buyers, deep inventory and a 94.9% sold-to-list ratio create room to negotiate.
Search Verandah homes for sale
The Plantation
- Active Listings: 55
- Sold (Last 120 Days): 41
- Homes Pending: 19
- Previously Listed Share of Active: 32.7%
- Months of Inventory: 5.4
- Median Sold Price: $585,000
- Sellers Received: 95.9% of asking price
The Plantation shows steady sales volume relative to supply, though nearly one-third of active listings represent homes returning to market. Returning sellers adjusted by a median of about 5% before reconnecting with buyers. The community splits cleanly between Bridgetown, where newer product is moving at about 43 days, and Somerset, where larger but older homes are averaging over 120 days. That difference makes sub-community selection important when evaluating comparable sales. Homes entering at current closed-sale levels are finding contracts in roughly a month, a useful benchmark for sellers preparing to list. For buyers, the range of product between the two sub-communities means there is room to find the right fit at different price points.
Search The Plantation homes for sale
Pelican Preserve
- Active Listings: 74
- Sold (Last 120 Days): 50
- Homes Pending: 25
- Previously Listed Share of Active: 31.1%
- Months of Inventory: 5.9
- Median Sold Price: $407,750
- Sellers Received: 96.1% of asking price
Pelican Preserve carries the largest active inventory in this group but also generates the highest sales volume. The gap between what sellers are asking and what buyers are paying is one of the tightest here, and marketing timelines reflect that alignment: 43% of active listings have been on market less than 30 days, with only 8% sitting past 180. The larger floor plans (3-bedroom-plus with den) are drawing the most buyer interest, reaching contract in under 30 days on average. That is a useful benchmark for sellers in that product category. For buyers, 74 active listings across 18 sub-communities provide extensive choices, particularly in the 2-bedroom segment where 30 options sit near a $285,000 median.
Search Pelican Preserve homes for sale
Timber Creek
- Active Listings: 30
- Sold (Last 120 Days): 26
- Homes Pending: 11
- Previously Listed Share of Active: 26.7%
- Months of Inventory: 4.6
- Median Sold Price: $613,000
- Sellers Received: 97.5% of asking price
Timber Creek presents the tightest transaction metrics among Fort Myers featured communities. All homes were built between 2020 and 2025, and that newer product is moving: sold homes closed in a median of 30 days, and 38% of recent sales closed at or above asking price, the highest rate in this group. What sellers are asking and what buyers are paying per square foot are virtually identical, which speaks well of how listings are being positioned here. For sellers, Timber Creek posts the lowest months of supply and highest at-or-above-list rate in this group, though the uniformity of new construction means buyers are comparing nearly identical vintages, so upgrades, lot position, and condition play a bigger role than usual. For buyers, the tighter conditions mean patience and timing matter more than in other communities, though listings past 60 days still represent opportunity.
Search Timber Creek homes for sale
Lexington Country Club
- Active Listings: 51
- Sold (Last 120 Days): 34
- Homes Pending: 35
- Previously Listed Share of Active: 19.6%
- Months of Inventory: 6.0
- Median Sold Price: $281,000
- Sellers Received: 95.1% of asking price
Lexington Country Club shows 35 pending against 51 active, the highest pending-to-active ratio in this group, and the lowest relist share at 19.6%. Active inventory all dates to the late 1990s, and the community offers the most affordable entry point of the six, starting under $210,000. Homes priced to the current market are moving well: sold properties closed in a median of 36 days. At the same time, a sizable portion of the active pool has been on market for an extended period, which means what has recently sold and what is currently listed can tell different stories. Sellers benefit most from anchoring expectations to what has actually closed recently. For buyers, the lower price point and broad selection create room to negotiate, particularly on listings that have been available the longest.
Search Lexington Country Club homes for sale
WildBlue
- Active Listings: 24
- Sold (Last 120 Days): 21
- Homes Pending: 16
- Previously Listed Share of Active: 12.5%
- Months of Inventory: 4.6
- Median Sold Price: $1,550,000
- Sellers Received: 94.5% of asking price
WildBlue maintains the lowest share of returning inventory, and recent sales nearly match the active listing count. The consistent theme in recent closings is negotiation: every sale in the past 120 days settled below list price, averaging 94.5% of asking. At a $1.55 million median, that 5.5% gap represents real dollars, and it is worth building that expectation into pricing strategy from the start. Within the community, Vista WildBlue offers a more affordable entry ($1.03 million median sold) with faster transaction timelines than WildBlue proper ($2.13 million median sold). For buyers, four months of consistent sold-to-list data provides a clear picture of where transactions are landing, though 16 pending sales signal that absorption remains strong.
Search WildBlue homes for sale
How Fort Myers Compares Across the Region
The table below places Fort Myers alongside the four other major Southwest Florida markets. Fort Myers carries the lowest median price and the second-steepest price-per-square-foot correction at 9.0% (behind Estero’s 14.0%), but closed sales still grew and the sold-to-list ratio held steady, both signs that buyers are engaging at these levels.
| City | Median Sold Price | Price/SF | Active Listings | Months of Supply | Sold-to-List | Closed Sales YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Myers | $325,000 | $202 | 3,506 | 7.9 | 95.6% | +9.6% |
| Cape Coral | $375,000 | $218 | 3,091 | 6.3 | 97.0% | +16.0% |
| Estero | $425,000 | $252 | 753 | 6.3 | 96.4% | +18.1% |
| Bonita Springs | $565,000 | $308 | 1,245 | 8.4 | 95.5% | +23.0% |
| Naples | $665,000 | $346 | 6,153 | 8.8 | 95.2% | +15.2% |
Source: FGCMLS. All metrics reflect February 2026 single-month data unless otherwise noted. The sold-to-list ratio reflects the most recent list price at the time of contract, not the original asking price. The listing-level analysis sections (community profiles, competitive inventory, relist data) use 120-day snapshots to capture enough transactions for meaningful analysis.
For the full regional analysis, see the Southwest Florida housing market update.
What Fort Myers Homeowners Are Asking
Transaction data supports buying in Fort Myers at current levels. Inventory dropped 21.0% year over year, pending activity remains steady, and competitive supply sits at 4.2 months. Prices per square foot have declined 9.0% from last February, giving buyers more purchasing power than a year ago. Showings per listing rose 17.9%, so buyer competition is increasing.
Nearly one in three active listings has already failed once. The most common reason is pricing above where recent buyers have been willing to transact. Fort Myers sellers received 95.6% of asking at closing, which means the market consistently negotiates 4% to 5% off list. Homes listed above recent closed comparables tend to sit past 90 days, then require a 5% to 10% reduction to reconnect with buyers.
Recent closed data shows Fort Myers buyers paying a median of 95.6% of list price. Homes that sat 90 to 180 days closed at 94% to 95% of asking. Listings past 180 days closed closer to 93%. The longer a home has been available, the more room buyers have to negotiate.
Median days on market for sold homes is 49 days for first-attempt listings. Relisted homes that eventually sold spent 219 total days across both attempts. The MLS-reported median for February sits at 61 days.
Fort Myers carries the highest relist rate (31.9%) and the second-steepest price-per-square-foot decline (9.0%, behind Estero’s 14.0%) among the five major cities. It also has the second-narrowest ask-bid gap (5.5%, behind Estero’s 4.5%), meaning listings here are closer to market reality than most neighbors. Competitive months of supply at 4.2 is mid-range, tighter than Naples (4.6) and Bonita Springs (4.4) but wider than Cape Coral (3.8) and Estero (3.6).
Final Thoughts on the Fort Myers Housing Market
In Fort Myers right now, the difference between selling and sitting comes down to the price sellers start with. The sellers who study their comparable sales, price within 3% to 5% of recent closings, and prepare their home for the market are finding contracts in under 60 days. The sellers who aim higher are joining the 32% of inventory that has already failed once.
If you are evaluating a move in Fort Myers, search current listings or contact our team to discuss what the data means for your specific neighborhood and price range.
Most homeowners feel overwhelmed when it’s time to move. At Worthington Realty, we provide personalized guidance and clear communication so that you feel heard, valued, and confident in your decisions.
Explore the March 2026 Southwest Florida Market Series
- Southwest Florida Housing Market Update
- Cape Coral Housing Market Update
- Estero Real Estate Market Update
- Bonita Springs Housing Market Update
- Naples Housing Market Update
Explore Homes for Sale and Learn About Living In:
Fort Myers | Cape Coral | Estero | Bonita Springs | Naples
