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Mike Colpitts on Fort Myers Real Estate: Market Trends, Buyer Strategy & 2026 Outlook
1. With prices correcting and inventory rising, how should prospective buyers adjust their strategy when entering the market now?
Real estate markets are almost always influx and each and every city in the world has it's own type of market. It's either a buyers market, which we have now in the Fort Myers area or a sellers market. Buyers need to mentally prepare themselves for the type of market they are making a purchase in.
Making sure you get an agent who is honest and straight forward to work with who you trust to represent your interests is key.
Everyone wants to buy property at the lowest possible price. Conversly, sellers want to get the most money they can for their home.
So when it comes to buying, as a purchaser there are really just two ways to approach a buyers market. You can go around making a lot of offers low-balling sellers or you can get an agent to work for you to find the best deals and work on those properties to get the best deal.
2. How is your newsletter or market update content helping local buyers and sellers stay informed about price trends and inventory?
We provide exclusive insight on the Fort Myers market on a montly basis, with the sale numbers and the type of market that we are currently in so our clients get the real scoop on how the local real estate market is evolving. Bigger booms usually mean bigger busts and in some places that's turning out to be the case but Fort Myers is a rare real estate market these days. The city is booming with growth with some of the lowest housing prices in the state of Florida, making it a destination for many homeowners and investors.
3. Have you observed a change in the buyer demographic since mortgage rates began to stabilize such as more first-time buyers or vacation home investors?
We've definitely seen fewer investors in the marketplace with higher interest rates but as prices have come down we're beginning to see more investor interest. We've seen more single family home sales for three straight months now. Second home sales are increasing slowly. I expect that interest will translate to more purchases in the vacation home market and with more investors in time.
4. What differentiates you from national listing platforms when it comes to serving the regional real estate market?
The big national platforms online provide the same listing information we do but it is delayed. The IDX or listings we provide comes directly from the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) so prospective purchasers can see local listings first and faster. Sometimes it takes a few days to roll around to the nationals.
In my business, I represent buyers and sellers and work with each and every client personally one-on-one. It's a people business. I've made my best friends in life in real estate.
5. What tools or features on the platform help buyers make smarter, faster decisions in a rapidly shifting market?
On my website, FortMyersAgent.com I work hard to provide all the information that is possibly available about the local market to prospective clients. In this day and age of open transparency, I do everything I can to provide customers with all the information they could possibly want on local real estate market trends and changes, with articles on all sorts of real estate related subjects. I think we'll be in a slower buyers market for sometime to come.
6. How do you see the local market evolving for buyers and sellers heading into 2026 more competitive, more value-driven, or both?
If working as a real estate analyst for seven years has taught me anything, it's that predicting a market with 100% certainty is impossible. However, I do believe that Fort Myers is a rare exception in the greater national real estate landscape and I'm not just saying that because I sell real estate. Fort Myers is booming with growth, both on the residential side and commerically as the community grows.
I expect home prices to continue to decline in much of the market slowly over the next 18 months. That should give buyers the edge in the housing market to pick up some of the best deals with the right agent to find them. During Covid many neighborhoods saw prices go up as much as 60% with many newcomers moving to the area because they could work out of their homes in our new economy. As people get more used to our new way of living, the single family home market will move to stabilization. We're already beginning to see that in the condo market, which is a whole other story.
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