In Charlotte County, Florida, the housing market is actually improving. In fact, more houses were purchased in the month of March than at any time in the last decade. Jason Painter with PROGRAM Realty, LLC an area realty company, couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “I had to look twice at the statistics to make sure of what I was seeing,” Painter said.

The reason that these homes are going like the proverbial hotcakes is the low prices that residents in the area are already familiar with, especially when considering the prices in the nearby counties of Lee and Sarasota. “I guess word is getting around,” Painter said. “Homes are a great value here, maybe the best prices in the entire state, especially when you consider the waterfront locations.”

In the month of March, there were almost 650 homes sold with Englewood and Port Charlotte having the highest sales numbers. The reason? The northern winter made a lot of people want to move to warmer climates like Southwest Florida. Realtors also think that the Punta Gorda airport has something to do with it as well, with the airport expanding big in the last few years. With this easier access, more folks are wanting to move to the area.

The airport numbers say that more than 600,000 passengers passed through Punta Gorda last year. Realtors are using the airport as a major reason to buy homes in the area. Painter said that realtors are selling homes to people coming right off of the plane. “I’ve talked with some fellow realtors and sales are up everywhere. People are deboarding and buying and then going back to get their stuff.”

March and April are the biggest sales months in Charlotte County, and May was a record month. Realtors are hoping that the coming months will be even better.