Cape Coral-Fort Myers Sees Nation’s Most Construction Relative to Stock

Nowhere else in the nation has more apartments under construction – relatively speaking – than Cape Coral-Fort Myers. The beach market on the southwestern coast of Florida has more than 3,600 units under construction, which once complete would grow the market’s apartment stock 8.2%. That’s a departure from development trends earlier in this real estate cycle, as inventory growth in Cape Coral was virtually nonexistent from 2010 to 2015 before picking up in late 2015. Meanwhile, construction volumes equal 6% or more of existing inventory in only nine other U.S. markets as of mid-2019. Among them, Reno, NV, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL and North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL saw virtually no construction until 2014. Others, such as Savannah, GA and Wilmington, NC have seen a slow and steady climb in inventory growth. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia and Charleston, SC are perhaps the outliers among these high-construction markets. Charlotte, the only large market on this list, is a national leader for inventory growth this cycle. Charleston has seen slow and steady growth through 2016 before ballooning in recent years.