SWFL Monthly Regional Economic Numbers

Single–Family Home Sales for coastal counties fell Down 45%,With Home Prices Increasing 15-23%

Charts 17-18 show existing single-family home sales by Realtors® for Lee, Collier Counties. Each solid line represents median prices plotted against the scale on the right side, and
the bars show the number of homes sold with the scale on the left side. The broken lines show
the linear trends in numbers of homes sold and median prices.
The coastal counties had a total of 1,271 single-family home sales in October 2022, a decrease of
45 percent from October 2021 and a 14 percent decrease from September 2022. All counties
continued to see increases in median prices over the past year, with increases ranging between
15 and 23 percent.
Single-family home sales in Lee County totaled 725 units in October 2022, a decrease of 640 units
(47 percent) from October 2021. The median price in Lee County increased from $368,000 to
$425,000 over the same period (see Chart 17). Collier County single-family home sales registered
344 units in October 2022, a decrease of 131 units (28 percent) compared to October 2021. The
median price in Collier County rose by $150,000 from $650,000 in September 2021 to $800,000
in October 2022 (see Chart 18).

Active Listings Up 82%
Active listings are provided by the Realtors® residential listings database and provides a look into
the number of properties for sale on the market. These figures include single-family residential
homes, condominiums, and townhomes, and exclude pending listings where a pending status is
available.
Active listings in the coastal counties reported 7,405 residential properties listed for sale in
October 2022. Listings in the area decreased by 6 percent from September 2022 but were 82
percent above the October 2021 measure.
Active listings in Lee County reported 3,860 units in October 2022, a decrease of 9 percent from
September 2022, and 93 percent above the October 2021 measure . Collier County
reported 2,384 units listed for sale in October 2022, a 1 percent increase from the previous month,
and 69 percent above the same month last year. Charlotte County active listings
decreased to 1,161 units in October 2022, down 10 percent from the prior month and 75 percent
above October 2021.

Single-Family Building Permits Fell 40%
The Southwest Florida coastal counties issued 903 single-family building permits in October 2022,
a decrease of 40 percent from October 2021 and 15 percent below September 2022. Lee County
issued 380 permits in October 2022, down from both the previous year (60 percent) and previous
month (37 percent). In Collier County, 279 permits were issued in October 2022,
down 15 percent from October 2021 but up 19 percent from September 2022.
Charlotte County recorded 244 permits issued in October 2022, up 10 percent from October 2021
as well as a 5 percent increase from September 2022.

Airport Passenger Activity Down 29%
Airport passenger activity is the sum of arrivals and departures for Southwest Florida International
(RSW), Sarasota Bradenton International (SRQ), and Punta Gorda (PGD) airports. Peak seasonal
activity usually occurs in February, March, and April, with significantly lower activity in the summer
months.
Total passenger traffic for the three airports amounted to 839,711 in October 2022, up 9 percent
from September 2022 but 29 percent below October 2021. SRQ and PGD airports both saw
increases in passenger traffic from the previous month while RSW experienced a decrease.
Passenger traffic at RSW was 432,667 in October 2022, down 16 percent from September 2022
and 44 percent below October 2021. PGD’s passenger activity amounted to 99,092
in October 2022, an increase of 53 percent from September 2022 and a 25 percent decrease from
October 2021. SRQ served 308,012 passengers in October 2022, a 62 percent
increase from September 2022 and 12 percent above October 2021.

Tourist Tax Revenues Up 3%
Seasonally adjusted tourist tax revenues for all the coastal counties increased to $12.2 million in August 2022,3 percent above August 2021 and 5 percent above the July 2022 revenue of $11.6 million.
Lee County’s seasonally-adjusted tourist tax revenues totaled $6.5 million in August 2022, a 6
percent increase from August 2021 and 3 percent above July 2022 ($6.3 million). Collier County’s
tourist tax revenues amounted to $4.9 million in August 2022, down 3 percent compared to August
2021, but up by 10 percent compared to the $4.4 million in July 2022. Seasonally-adjusted tourist
tax revenues in Charlotte County totaled $863.3 thousand in August 2022, up 14 percent from the
August 2021 measure, but no significant change compared to the prior month’s measure of $864.0
thousand.

Taxable Sales Down 4%
Taxable sales data provided by the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) tracks consumer
spending based on the latest month of merchant collections. The RERI adjusts the DOR data to
the month of transaction by lagging the data one month. Therefore, taxable sales transaction data
is now available through September 2022.
Seasonally-adjusted taxable sales for Southwest Florida totaled $3.338 billion in September 2022,
a decrease of 4 percent from September 2021 and 8 percent below the August 2022 . Lee County’s
seasonally-adjusted taxable sales were $1.767 billion in September 2022, a decrease of 6 percent
over September 2021 and 11 percent below the previous month. Collier County taxable sales were
$1.192 billion in September 2022, down 2 percent from September 2021 and no significant change
from the August 2022 total. Taxable sales in Charlotte County totaled $331.9 million in September
2022, compared to $345.8 million in September 2021 and $374.8 million in August 2022.

Workforce – Labor Force, Employment and Unemployment rose 1.3%
Total persons employed and unemployed, and the resulting unemployment
rates seasonally adjusted by the RERI, for each county from January 2007 through October 2022.
Between September and October 2022, the number of employed persons in Southwest Florida
decreased by 14,434 while the number of unemployed persons increased by 8,552. The region’s
seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in October 2022, up 1.3 percent from
September 2022. Seasonally-adjusted employed workers for the region were up by over 11,000
compared to October 2021, while the number of unemployed was down by 767. The total labor
force increased by 10,980 from October 2021 to October 2022, with growth occurring in Charlotte
and Lee counties.
Lee County’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in October 2022, up 1.7
percent since September 2022, and unchanged compared to October 2021. The
unemployment rate in Collier County was 3.0 percent in October 2022, up 0.6 percent from the
prior month, and down 0.5 percentage points compared to October 2021 . Charlotte
County’s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in September 2022, up 1.4 percentage points from
the prior month, and down 0.1 percentage points compared to October 2021.