The Punta Gorda metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, which encompasses all of Charlotte County, had the second highest profit margin for sellers in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2024, out of 135 MSAs analyzed, according to data firm ATTOM.
While nationwide profit margins for home sales decreased 55%, in Charlotte County the profit margin for sellers rose to 103.1% for the first three months of the year, from 83.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The change represented a 37.1% quarter-over-quarter increase and a 12.6% year-over-year increase year.
But that doesn’t mean every home seller saw big profits. Those who bought a home during the buying frenzy of 2020-21 might have sold for less than they purchased.
Leanne Walker, this year’s president of the Realtors of Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port-DeSoto Inc. pointed out that a seller who purchased their home 30 years ago and sold in the fourth quarter would have garnered a significant profit.
Inventory in Charlotte County has grown and it’s more of a buyer’s market. Single-family home prices have remained relatively stable with the area not having declines like the rest of the nation.
In fact, ATTOM, which is a leading curator of land, property and real estate data, also showed in its report that profit margins for median-priced single-family home and condo sales in the U.S. decreased to 55.3% in the first quarter.
While in some parts of Florida there have been sharp decreases in sales and home prices, of the top 10 MSAs, Florida took the top three spots in the ATTOM report.
Coming in at No. 1 was Ocala with a profit margin in the first quarter of this year that rose to 128% from 90.8% in the fourth quarter of last year. The Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach MSA went from 66.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 81.1% in the first quarter of 2024.