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Naples home sales rise fifth month in a row
More buyers are getting back into the game.
As home prices continue to drop in the Naples area, sales are rising and inventories are falling.
In June, total sales rose by 9 percent to 471, from 431 a year ago.
Meanwhile, the inventory of homes shrank to 10,837, from 11,602 last year, according to a monthly report by the Naples Area Board of Realtors.
The report tracks home sales in Collier County, excluding Marco Island.
Pending sales have increased and available inventory has decreased for the past five months.
“We hope that this keeps up,” said Realtor Arlene Carozza, NABOR’s president.
It looks promising. Pending sales increased 63 percent to 494 in June, up from 302 a year ago.
For single-family homes priced at less than $300,000, pending sales rose a whopping 537 percent to 172 in June, up from 27 a year ago.
The median price for all homes in the Naples area fell to $310,000 last month, down from $400,000 a year ago.
“People are looking at the prices they have their houses listed at and they are getting a little more realistic,” Carozza said.
In June, there were 4,653 homes available for less than $300,000 — far more than in any other category, according to NABOR’s report.
Overall, market sales for homes less than $300,000 rose 58 percent, with the median price down 15 percent, compared to a year ago. There were 231 sales, up from 146 last year. Of those sales, 113 were single-family homes — a 253 percent increase over the 32 that sold a year ago.
All areas covered by the report, except Immokalee and Ave Maria, saw an increase in pending sales in June. East Naples had the biggest jump to 106, from 39 a year ago.
Total condominium sales in June fell slightly to 210, from 228 a year ago. However, pending sales for condos rose 43 percent to 197, from 138 a year ago.
Joni Albert, managing broker for RealtyUSA in downtown Naples, wasn’t surprised by the numbers. She said her office is seeing more showings and more offers being written. Most of the interest is coming from second-home buyers, she said.
At her office, pending sales increased more than 70 percent in June, while total sales were up 53 percent, Albert said.
“There are buyers out there,” she said. “People are purchasing properties.”
She said out-of-town buyers who have been looking are expected to return later this summer and in the fall to search again.
As long as interest rates remain low, Carozza said she expects more buyers to get off the fence as prices become more affordable for more people.
In the first six months of the year Downing-Frye Realty Inc. had 11,000 showings, which resulted in about 1,000 transactions, said Michael Hughes, a company vice president.
That tells him that there are a lot more buyers that haven’t jumped off the fence yet — and will.
“People are coming in and grabbing the choice properties,” as long as they are priced right, he said.
“We are going in the right direction. I’m not really sure for the rest of the year what we will see,” Hughes said.
To see NABOR’s full report, go to NaplesArea.com.
Comments
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numbers don't lie
#1 Posted by NeezDutz on July 17, 2008 at 3:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Where's all the negative comments?
#2 Posted by rg22 on July 17, 2008 at 3:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah! A few real estate people are in the money again! Every things gonna be good again!
#3 Posted by almostdone on July 17, 2008 at 4:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't be whiney babies about it...its going to turn around eventually.
#4 Posted by techie on July 17, 2008 at 4:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't see this lasting long with the way the economy is going and people keep losing their jobs
#5 Posted by napleska7 on July 17, 2008 at 5:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
'Figures Don't Lie, But Liars Figure'
#6 Posted by streetrodder on July 17, 2008 at 5:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
wow, that was appalling cutthroat. Sorry for trying to see the glass half full. Sometimes we just need some good news to go home with. Oh well, thanks for letting me know the maturity level I am dealing with.
#7 Posted by NeezDutz on July 17, 2008 at 5:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
CutthroatLiberal = foreclosure!
#8 Posted by techie on July 17, 2008 at 5:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Notice there was no mention of the median price of homes sold...how many were condos vs. single family homes. A true picture of the local housing market would show sales comparisons and median prices for each June beginning in 2000 to current. There is also no numbers for listing contract expirations (we have given up trying to sell) and you must add the homes in various states of foreclosure to the inventory total. Just because someone falls off a 50 story building and bounces up a couple of stories when they hit the ground doesn't mean they aren't hurt.
#9 Posted by swfljim on July 17, 2008 at 6:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
cool NDN! what happened to this story?
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/j...
#10 Posted by mimibuck on July 17, 2008 at 7:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
or this one?
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/j...
how about the one where the europenans w/ their euros are buying cape single (forclosed) family homes for $57000?(euro)
so i guess i'm with #3 Posted by almostdone. if the realtors are happy....?
#11 Posted by mimibuck on July 17, 2008 at 7:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WOW ! sale of homes under $300K are up 537%..Could it be because all the homes that were worth $600K are now worth half what they were? Must be a frenzy by wealthy folk, foreigners or developers, buying out homes at bargain prices. Do those figures include all the homes Collier County is taking from homeowners for next to nothing in the Estates by Eminent Domain? I hope you all are able to keep your homes, or sell them for some small profit if you must sell in this market. Good Luck!
#12 Posted by ilivehere on July 17, 2008 at 8:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'll be danged, happy days are here again.
#13 Posted by almasonlybar on July 17, 2008 at 8:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We are all going to be rich!
#14 Posted by techie on July 17, 2008 at 9:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Lipstick on a pig..makes a pig with lipstick on it.
#15 Posted by almostdone on July 17, 2008 at 9:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Great news! We can finally leave this wonderful paradise sooner then expected!
#16 Posted by Jadip811 on July 17, 2008 at 10:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
GREAT NEWS....let's hope the economist's so-called predictions are incorrect about the 74,000+ jobless rate in Florida, too.
Realtors are struggling to keep the faith in their professions, and families are wrecked over this real estate market.
It is difficult to watch neighbors and NABOR go through the ups and downs of real estate sometimes.
#17 Posted by beetlejuice on July 17, 2008 at 11:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The NDN makes much of its money from Real Estate advertising and probably misses the good old days when everyone was lying about what the housing market was doing but business was good.
Sorry, but I'm not buying it. You cannot build an economy on residential housing or related commercial space.
How about some industry?
#18 Posted by AARGGHHH on July 17, 2008 at 11:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's a RALLY! Buy now before it is too late! Tookie, I am right there behind you! Whoopeee we are IN the money, now, hot dam.
#19 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on July 17, 2008 at 11:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
How's bout some pollution, global warming, environment destroying, industry to perk things up a bit in Naples...is this what I'm hearing from AARGGHHHH?
Move back to Cleveland, Ohio for the booming industrial market there ARRGGHH....or better yet....Flint, Michigan...or better yet....move to industrial Kansas City, KS for some booming industrial towns.
Not!
#20 Posted by beetlejuice on July 17, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Let the dead bury the dead", simply put.
#21 Posted by sancho on July 18, 2008 at 12:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
well said sancho!
#22 Posted by beetlejuice on July 18, 2008 at 1:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There is very little polluting, environment destroying industry anywhere in the U.S. anymore, even Cleveland. This area could and should be going after biotech and other clean industries to diverify the economy and bring better paying jobs. I know many smart, creative, college educated people here who toil for the local standard of $10.00 an hour. What a waste of brain power, and a drag on the local economy...especially when there are so many challenges in medicine and energy that need solutions. I've been to every major city (and many smaller ones) in America, and I have never seen an area like Southwest Florida, where county officials make practically no effort to bring new industry to the area or diversify the economy. Our area couldn't escape the economic downturn which is prevalent everywhere, but if we had something else to fall back on instead of wandering when people will start moving here again and whether or not tourists will keep coming in big numbers, we would all be better off.
#23 Posted by swfljim on July 18, 2008 at 1:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"As long as interest rates remain low, Carozza said she expects more buyers to get off the fence as prices become more affordable for more people."
We're also told many of the buys are "second homes."
Is there a chance this spike in activity reflects monied outsiders (I didn't say vultures) swooping in to take advantage of depressed prices in order to fortify their real estate holdings?
If that were true, would it change the message the hedline projects?
Is there a chance Laura Layden might ever see beyond the numbers on the page (or the glass half full of numbers, if you wish) and examine the exact form of the resurgence? Probably not, based on past performance.
Is there a chance the real estate crowd will ever look at Southwest Florida as something more than a crust of bread being fought over by gulls? Doubtful.
Is there any hope that progressive and informed entrepreneurs would bring their biotech/research operations to a place where the newspaper lets parking valets brag about their flipping success, as if that's the economy they want to project? Not much.
If Southwest Florida was a non-ambulatory patient, and the real estate market was symbolized by the flow of whatever the catheter produced, it's safe to say that many attracted to this place would express supreme indifference to any measure of health not present in that hanging bag.
The heart and soul of the patient, the pulse and brain wave as symbolized by environmental health and a holistic embrace of a living system, would be ignored or ridiculed.
It's all about the deal, baby. We just keep swapping the bags and ignoring the fading blips on the screen.
#24 Posted by elnuestros on July 18, 2008 at 4:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
El - you remember the parking lot valet story too huh? Capitalism at its best. Wonder what he is doing now? I hear the Mona Vie sales let him down also. LOL
To all the rest of you, believe what you will but ever since FL discovered AC and bug spray, people have wanted to come here. Nothing's changed. It would be VERY nice however, if our elected leaders could work to change this dynamic and develop/encourage significant viable industries other than tourism to locate here. Until that is done, we will always be a tourist destination dependent upon that type of revenue to sustain ourselves.
#25 Posted by naplesregular on July 18, 2008 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What's the quality and neighborhood location for all these under 300,000 homes?
#26 Posted by reasonableguy on July 18, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Again nitpickers, how about some good news for a change. My immediate hopes are for the RE market to turn around so all you grumpy whiners can sell your house and get the #$%#$^ outta here!
#27 Posted by trehuger on July 18, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
trehuger;
Be careful what you ask for. Maybe the people who buy the houses will be worse then what's here now.
Who's the bigger fool? The fool, or the fool that follows the fool?
;-)
#28 Posted by Optipess on July 18, 2008 at 8:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Let's all meet for coffee...LOL
Actually, I am a happy person who has no intention of leaving. I like my home. I like where I live.
Just feel like celebrating with all this "good news', don't you? Wish Tookie and me great good fortune on our new venture into real estate!
Good times, yessireebob...good times.
#29 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on July 18, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tookie, Schmookie.
#30 Posted by techie on July 18, 2008 at 10:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
dave likes it here
#31 Posted by NeezDutz on July 18, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Were all going to be rich!!!!
#32 Posted by wsdnaples1 on July 18, 2008 at 11:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Beetlejuice... not all "Industry" is heavy industry. If you've never seen some of the really upscale northern industrial parks then you should travel more and spout off less. They put what we have to shame.
#33 Posted by AARGGHHH on July 18, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Will someone please buy my condo in World Tennis on airport? PLEASE.
#34 Posted by emmylopez on July 18, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
there is a difference between people wasting money (a group that you are quick to jump on) on something that is just a name, than telling someone to get with their friends and go circle j*rk.
#35 Posted by NeezDutz on July 18, 2008 at 2:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Money is,as Money does
#36 Posted by houdal on July 18, 2008 at 2:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
JIMBOAW,
If you enter different banks on the property appraisers website and actually check locations you will find a little different information. Most are where the bank center themselves are. Some are foreclosures, I just wanted it to be known that all are not.
#37 Posted by Bnboatn on July 18, 2008 at 3:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Must be all the illegals buying up the cheap property. Collier will soon declare independance from the union!!!
Sorry, just trying out my new 'Xenophobia' chip. It works well. I didn't see illegals mentioned so I had to try it out.
#38 Posted by Ironage on July 18, 2008 at 5:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It isn't the price you pay for the home it is what happens after that, the Home owners fees, the Insurance, the taxes, the lack of water, the selling of the highways, the school system in collier, The angry people and the crazy drivers, I wouldn't take a home there if they gave it to me...Gone now for 3 years and finally sleeping through the night.
#39 Posted by pippin on July 18, 2008 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Naples regular, Naples will never be a nice place to live or visit when the oil rigs go up in the gulf, I am old enough to remember what it looked like, and smelled like in Texas and Oklahoma...If you get a hurricane that takes them down, and covers the beaches with crud that you have to pay to clean up, then we will talk about living in Paradise "Naples" ...We lived there for 44 years and saw the writing on the wall in the 80's..When the first bumper sticker came out saying, "Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag"...
#40 Posted by pippin on July 18, 2008 at 6:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am not a realtor, but these reports published by NABOR are stats from the local MLS system. The increase in pending sales, no one other than Realtors through NABOR know the inventory of Pending data, this data does not include $100 bank foreclosure sales. Values are down 50% or more from the overinflated height of our market. Properties are selling, this is good news. Yes it will still get worse before it gets better due to the continued foreclosures entering our market but things finally selling is good for our market and should not be ignored to discredited.
#41 Posted by kira5189 on July 18, 2008 at 6:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ARRGH...oh do you think I haven't been to the heart of industry in Cleveland...seen people loose everything after the steel industry died there? There's row, after row of empty houses in Cleveland, due to the lack of jobs now. GO INDIANS! GO BROWNS!
Do you think I haven't been to Kansas City, KS...it has industry, too. Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS are almost different worlds. Take a drive sometime if you can with today's gas prices.
There's Flint, Michigan...more industry, and more pollution and more economic woes.
So tell me, what is "upscale" industry?
Is it like an upscale hotel AAAARRGH, where the employees and guests of this uppity industry get cancer?
Heard about those microchip manufacturing plants?
All employees take out those Aflac cancer policies to work in the "upscale" industry.
Gotta love industry ARRRGH.
#42 Posted by beetlejuice on July 19, 2008 at 12:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Techie's/CutThoratLib's mom's trailer is for sale... BUY IT NOW before he/she/it throws another fit and posts some more useless babble.
Optipess: I don't know... I mean how much worse can those "buying" here be than those who already have?
Yep, Ironage, the illegals bought everything w/ their almighty purchasing power @ $5.00 an hour.
And yes, pippin I saw that sticker too growing up in the 80's on the east coast... hence why I do not live on the east coast.
#43 Posted by jim09091 on July 19, 2008 at 4:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
jim09091,
Whiney baby!
#44 Posted by techie on August 9, 2008 at 11:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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