By Robert Nardi, Broker/Owner
While much of America grapples with unfamiliarly high interest rates that have stalemated the resale home market, broker analysts reviewing the July 2023 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), point to data that shows home sales activity in Naples has remained steady for the past year despite several interest rate increases. Yet, even as cash sales for homes in Naples decreased from 66.7 percent in January to 53.5 percent in July, the overall median closed price of homes in the first seven months of 2023 has continued to increase compared to most months in the first seven months of 2022.
The July Market Report’s total sales data showed 81 fewer homes sold in July than in July 2022, an 11.9 percent decrease to 600 closed sales from 681 closed sales. On the other side of the spectrum, pending listings (homes under contract) in July increased 6.3 percent to 798 pending listings from 751 pending listings in July 2022, which illustrates our market’s steadiness. Also, the percentage of list price received this July is steady at 96.1 percent compared to 97.9 percent in July 2022. In July, days on market increased 115.4 percent to 56 days from 26 days in July 2022, the lowest reported in the history of NABOR®’s Market Reports. Incidentally, before the pandemic, days on market averaged over 100 days (104 days in July 2019).
New listings in July decreased 15.4 percent to 810 new listings from 957 new listings in July 2022. Before the pandemic, new listings supplemented an already very healthy inventory level. Data showed 5,200 properties for sale in Naples in July 2019 compared to 2,583 properties listed for sale in July 2023. But while new listings, closed sales, and pending sales activity have almost returned to 2019 levels, overall inventory has not. As inventory faded away during the homebuying frenzy of the pandemic years, median closed prices rose by over 50 percent. In July 2019, the median closed price in Naples was $325,000. But in July 2023, the median closed price increased 9.2 percent to $595,000 from $545,000 in July 2022.
The NABOR® July 2023 Market Report compares single-family home and condominium sales (via the Southwest Florida MLS), price ranges, and geographic segmentation and includes an overall market summary. NABOR® sales statistics chart presents all data. If you wish to receive a copy, please send an email to Robert@NardiRealty.com.
What does this mean?
The July report shows we are in a steady market with lower inventory. Prices are stable, and the market is not on “shaky ground.” To add to the steadiness, Hurricane Idalia was a non-event for Southwest Florida. Whew!
Back-on-market properties
An interesting finding in the July statistics is that 199 pending listings returned to the market in July. So potential Buyers should look at this as an additional opportunity. Why did these properties come back on the market? Some Buyers, even though pre-approved for a mortgage, are denied after their paperwork is submitted/processed by their lender’s underwriting division. If the sales contract has a mortgage contingency, the lender issues a denial letter to the Buyer to present to the Seller, and the Buyer’s escrow funds are refunded. Another way for a property to come back on the market is when a Buyer and Seller cannot come to terms with fixing non-working items discovered in the inspection period. In Naples, you have the NABOR® sales contract and the NABOR® AS-IS sales contract. In the NABOR® contract, you inspect the property and present all non-working items to the Sellers to fix. As a Buyer, you can ask for remedial action or get estimates and request a credit at closing for fixing non-working items. If the Seller refuses to fix anything or give a credit at closing, the Buyer can cancel the contract and receive their escrow monies back.
With the NABOR® AS-IS contract, you have a specific time frame for inspections, generally a 15-day period, and you have the right to cancel for any reason. Maybe the Buyer found another property that met their needs better. Maybe the Buyer got cold feet. With an AS-IS contract, you can walk away for any reason, cancel the contract, and receive your escrow monies back.
If you have any questions or need assistance with buying, selling, contracts, etc., please call me directly at 239-293-3592 or email me at Robert@NardiRealty.com. I would be happy to help.
Please feel free to use BuyNaples.net for your property searches. We allow users to “drill down,” providing many criteria you can search on compared to other real estate websites.
Have a wonderful “beginning to fall!”
239-293-3592 | www.BuyNaples.net