July Active Listings & Inventory Up, Pending Sales Drop

(Fort Myers, FL – August 24, 2016) – Active listings and inventory are up in 2016, but month-by-month, Lee County is still seeing a slight downward trend.

Active Listings on Single Family Homes were up more than 15% in July than during the same time in 2015. There was a huge hike in Condos year-over-year – almost 41%. However, the number of Active Listings has actually been trending down over the last few months, and July was no exception.

The Months Supply of Inventory also shot up last month, compared to July 2015. Condos saw a 53% jump year-over-year, however, Months Supply has also been trending down since March of this year.

The Median Sale Price of a Single Family Home has trended up and down just a little since March. Condo prices have been trending down since April. However, over the last 12 months, Median sale prices are up – almost 10% for Single Family Homes and 3.5% for Condos.

The number of New Pending Sales also dropped in July – nearly 11% for Single Family Homes and 19% for Condos.

Sellers are still getting more than 95% of their asking price when it comes to closing time. Homes spent a little more time on the market in July – 3 days more compared to last year.

Fort Myers Beach listings are getting pricier – jumping almost 58% year-over-year. The Median price for a beach listing is now $710,000, compared to $450,000 in 2015.

Media Contact: Laura Shay laura@rpcra.org

Brokers See a Steady Summer Season

Naples, Fla. (August 19, 2016) – The July 2016 Market Report released by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), showed performance as expected during a traditional summer season. The inventory increase to 4,801 homes is welcome news to homebuyers following record-low inventory levels in July 2015, when the number of active listings dropped to 3,518 homes. Median closed prices remained steady for price segments above $300,000, which is good news to buyers, and increased 11 percent in the under $300,000 price category.

“Home prices continue to remain stable, and we are absorbing the inventory,” said Jeff Jones, Managing Broker at the Naples-Park Shore office of Coldwell Banker®. “As the report reveals, a decrease in pending and closed sales in July had nothing to do with prices. Properties priced right were selling. We sold 627 homes, only 99 fewer homes in July than the year before, which was a very good year.”

Bill Coffey, Broker Manager of Amerivest Realty Naples, agreed, saying, “Prices are remaining the same regardless of the increased inventory. Interestingly, the median closed price is up 7 percent from July a year ago to $300,000 when one would think the prices would go down due to the 36 percent increase in inventory.”

Unlike other areas of the country, real estate sales in Naples decline during the off-season summer months. This pause is a familiar expectation, due to a majority of second home buyers retreating to their Northern homes during the summer months. The decline in July’s home sales may also be due to the increase in the Canadian exchange rate and tourism being off this summer. Brokers anticipate the market will take off again in season.

According to Coffey, “Days on market for all price categories above $300,000 are returning to a normal range. The report shows that the days on the market for homes $1 million and above have decreased double digits from July of last year.”

The July 2016 Market Report showed a 25 decrease in overall pending sales (homes under contract) to 681 pending sales from 913 pending sales in July 2015 (year over year). Overall closed sales decreased 14 percent to 627 closed sales from 726 closed sales in July 2015 (year over year). In comparison, overall closed sales decreased 2 percent from July 2014 to July 2015 (year over year). However, in perspective, inventory decreased 1 percent between July 2014 and July 2015, but increased 36 percent between July 2015 and July 2016.

Despite a drop in overall closed sales, closed sales for single-family homes in the $500,000 to $1 million price category increased 26 percent in July 2016 to 72 single-family homes from 57 single-family homes in July 2015 (year over year). This segment’s median closed price decreased 7 percent to $627,000 in July 2016 from $672,000 in July 2015 (year over year).

The July 2016 Market Report also showed a 44 percent decrease in median closed price for condominiums in the $2 million and above price category (year over year). In July 2015, the median closed price for these high-end condominiums was $4,395,000 (year over year). The median closed price for this price category dropped to $2,450,000 (year over year) in July 2016. This price segment also saw the highest increase in inventory of all other home types in July 2016; a 79 percent increase to 84 condominiums in July 2016 from 47 condominiums in July 2015.

The NABOR® July 2016 Market Report provides comparisons of single-family home and condominium sales (via the Southwest Florida MLS), price ranges, and geographic segmentation and includes an overall market summary. The NABOR® July 2016 sales statistics are presented in chart format, including these overall (single-family and condominium) findings:

CATEGORIES July 2016 July 2015 CHANGE Total homes under contract (pending sales) 681 913 -25% Total closed sales 627 726 -14% Median closed price $300,000 $287,000 5% Total active listings (inventory) 4,801 3,518 36% Average days on market 75 77 -3% Single-family closed sales 323 358 -10% Single-family median closed price $375,000 $379,000 -1% Single-family inventory 2,565 2,040 26% Condominium closed sales 304 368 -17% Condominium median closed price $245,000 $240,000 2% Condominium inventory 2,236 1,478 51%
Additional activity of interest in the NABOR® July 2016 Market Report includes:

• Overall pending sales in the Immokalee/Ave Maria geographic area (34142) increased 25 percent to 5 pending sales in July 2016 from 4 pending sales in July 2015.
• Closed sales for single-family homes in the East Naples geographic area (34114, 34117, 34120, 34137) increased 39 percent to 104 single-family homes in July 2016 from 75 single-family homes in July 2015.
• Median closed prices for condominiums in the Naples Beach geographic area (34102, 34103, 34108) increased 28 percent to $725,000 in July 2016 from $567,000 in July 2015.
• Inventory for single-family homes in the $300,000 and below price category did not change between July 2015 and July 2016.
• Inventory for condominiums in the North Naples geographic area (34109, 34110, 34119) increased 74 percent to 637 condominiums in July 2016 from 367 condominiums in July 2015.

Activity in the Naples Beach area surprised broker analysts as its median closed price for single-family homes decreased 26 percent, yet its median closed price for condominiums increased 28 percent (year over year).

“When they find it, they buy it,” said Coco Waldenmayer, a managing broker at John R. Wood Properties. “Buyers, whether they are baby boomers or international, know what they are looking for in Naples.”

Contacts: Rick Fioretti, NABOR® President, (239) 597-1666
Marcia Albert, NABOR® Director of Marketing, (239) 597-1666