Market Highlight: Southwest Florida

The five counties of Southwest Florida are best known for their spectacular quality of life, with sunshine, warm waters, pristine beaches and thriving wildlife. The region is home to 1.3 million residents and by 2025 is projected to rise to approximately 1.5 million.  It is also a dynamic playground for 6.8 million tourists each year.

The major cities in Southwest Florida are Naples, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Punta Gorda, Marco Island, Sanibel, Boca Grande and Captiva. When reviewed, SWFL tops not just the state, but the country in terms of new resident arrivals, excellent business performance and overall quality of life.

The major artery for Southwest Florida is interstate I-75, which connects to Tampa and Fort Lauderdale in two hours, and Orlando and Miami in three hours. A parallel thoroughfare is highway 41 or Tamiami Trail. The region has two commercial airports, Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) and Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) , and several major general aviation airfields.

According to Bloomberg CityLab, SWFL has 4 of 10 counties in Florida with the most incoming residents in 2020 and 2021. In a report by the National Association of Realtors, Fort Myers and Cape Coral both joined a list of eight major metropolitan cities including Phoenix, Seattle, Las Vegas and Austin, as a top 10 Commercial Real Estate Market. The report was based upon key factors that SWFL has excelled in including economic, demographic, housing and commercial market conditions.

Southwest Florida is quickly becoming an enticing area for national companies and small businesses alike. CareerCloud, a job resource website, published a report finding Florida ranked 9^th in the county for best states for remote jobs. It also ranked 5^th in terms of projected job growth from 2018 to 2028 in the US. These expert findings reinforce the continued growth in SWFL outranks most states in the US.