Just days after Hurricane Charley devastated Charlotte County, Fla., real estate vultures flew through Punta Gorda and other towns, offering cash for ravaged homes, local real estate insiders recall.

It's what happened in Homestead, Fla., after Hurricane Andrew flattened that town in 1992. But this time around a booming real estate market means fewer owners are willing to sell despite the latest wave of hurricane devastation.

"There was a flood of bottom feeders coming into the market two or three days after Charley, all wanting to cash in on the devastation. They remembered in Homestead there were a lot of buys. People took their insurance checks and got out," said Frank D'Alessandro, a partner with D'Alessandro & Woodyard Realtors, based in Fort Myers, Fla., just south of Charlotte County.

"Here we're not seeing the panic we saw with Andrew, and that's simply because they didn't have the demand in the market. Charlotte and Lee County have a lot going for them that at the time Homestead didn't."

The median home price in Charlotte County's Punta Gorda area rose 30 percent in July, to $176,800 from $135,900 a year earlier, and the number of sales rose 19 percent.

Still, no matter how high Florida's local real estate markets were flying before the hurricanes, there will be a short-term hit to sales in affected areas. But "when you look at state data on a quarterly basis, you don't see any impact on the quarter, because it smooths out in that time frame. It delays or postpones transactions. It doesn't make them go away," said Walt Molony, spokesman with the National Association of Realtors.

Soraya Nasrallah experienced just such a delay when Hurricane Frances rammed through Boca Raton. But the delay may have brought special clout to her home, as it withstood the onslaught without damage.

"In a weird way, this was a little bit of a blessing," Nasrallah said. "Whoever sees it, I'll say these two hurricanes have passed by, and nothing's happened."

While a hurricane can delay sales, it also can make home prices rise because fewer homes are for sale as some are getting repaired. The crunch on housing supply can push prices higher.