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The Clewiston Housing Market Is On Fire

Author Joe Winner
Aerial photo residential and business districts in Clewiston Florida

Overall, home values in Florida have gone up significantly in the past few years, but have been cooling slightly of late. That is, except for some areas of Florida around the Miami area and here in Southwest Florida – Clewiston. In a year over year comparison, the Clewiston housing market is on fire.

Clewiston is a city in Hendry County on the south bank of Lake Okeechobee. The 2022 population was listed as 7,198. It’s about 80 miles northwest of Fort Lauderdale and about 60 miles from Fort Myers. Clewiston’s largest industry is sugar and has been named “America’s Sweetest Town.” But what’s going on with Clewiston, Florida’s housing market?

The Clewiston Housing Market

News4Jax dissected information from the latest Zillow housing report to see which Florida markets had the biggest year over year gain in home values. In first place, with a home value year over year gain of 14.1% is Clewiston. The typical home value in Clewiston for February 2024 is up to $240,966. Sure, that value is still quite a bit lower than other parts of Southwest Florida, but here’s why that’s significant.

Zillow posts monthly data which shows which percentage of listings have cut their price. In Naples, 291.% percent of the listings are reduced. In Cape Coral, it’s 26.9%. In North Port, 35.5% of listings have reduced their price since the original listing. So while coastal Southwest Florida is discounting, Clewiston home values year over year are still growing.

But why Clewiston?

There’s some decent bass fishing, and the people at the Tiki Bar are friendly, but more importantly – as cost of living skyrockets, Clewiston is still affordable. For now. People on fixed income who want to stay in Florida are leaving the coastal areas and moving inland. Insurance and HOA increases have priced them out of the area. In this case, they’re trading the Gulf Coast for Lake O.

Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail LOST Clewiston FL USA

Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail Clewiston FL USA

 

The next leg up in the housing market.

There are people that think this is just the beginning of a market correction in Florida. But it’s quite possible thing will go the other way.

The Federal Government has stated repeatedly that they plan to cut interest rates three times in 2024. In anticipation, mortgage rates are already beginning to decline. Bankrate shows the current rate on a 30 year fixed mortgage is at 6.88%. A month ago it was at 7.11%.

So, as a perspective home buyer if you see rates falling and are likely to continue coming down – you’re going to wait. I think at some point we’re going to see more buyers coming in, which will push home values up even more. Further effecting the Clewiston housing market, and all of Southwest Florida.

Elsewhere in Hendry county is Labelle. There’s a lot of new construction in Labelle. Have you ever been? I kinda like it there.

The Best Local Cuisine Restaurants In Southwest Florida

Local Cuisine refers to the cooking and serving of dishes typical of the culture of the area. Many of the dishes contain food that has been produced within that area. So for Southwest Florida that of course means seafood. But that’s not all. There’s a lot of other fresh foods produced right here in the Sunshine State. Like oranges, tomatoes, watermelon, grapefruit, strawberries and more. Those locally grown crops are found on the plates in Florida restaurants that want the freshest foods possible. There’s also cattle ranches. Places like Beach Bistro on Anna Maria Island serve steaks from a ranch just north of North Port. Local. Southwest Florida restaurants that serve food from Florida. That’s what we mean by ‘local cuisine’ restaurants.

As a local, I know about these places. I can personally vouch for several of the rankings on the list. But rather than talk about my favorites, we’ll defer to the reviews on Tripadvisor. By using keywords and the site’s algorithms, I was able to pinpoint what they would consider the top 10 local cuisine restaurants in Southwest Florida. As a way to show my work, here’s a direct link to what I’ve done. Sure, there may be some places that you think should be on the list, but I don’t think you could say any of these places shouldn’t be mentioned.

If you’re from out of town, good, I’m glad you found this list for the best local cuisine.

It’s actually embarrassing how many people go to the chain restaurants when they come to Southwest Florida to visit. You can go to those places anytime. Also, this list stretches from Sarasota to the south end of Naples. So, some of these places won’t be very close, depending on where you are. Now let’s take a look at the best local cuisine restaurants in Southwest Florida. I’ll drop a couple a couple of links at the end for even more options.

Joe Winner spends his days combing through memes and off beat stories to bring you the side of Florida not always seen.

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Author Joe Winner
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