The figures for Ft Myers to Naples indicate sales are equal to or better than at the height of 2005. Buyers have taken advantage of extremely low prices, many below pricing from 2003-2004, on single family and condo properties.
The following was taken from recent articles providing updated information for the current real estate market:
July 2010 – The Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), issued findings recently indicating that all locations within the greater Naples area experienced significant increases in both pending and closed sales in the month of May 2010.
"It’s no wonder that May’s activity was so strong. The whole year has been strong, at least for our company," said Mike Hughes, General Manager and Vice President of Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. "We had well over 3,000 showings booked through our receptionists during May and we’ve averaged nine closings a day for the last five months. We haven’t seen activity like this since the 2004-2005 bubble years."
All geographic areas of Naples experienced an increase in pending and overall sales for the 12-month period from April 2009 through May 2010 as compared to the previous 12-month period. Ranging from a 33 percent increase in East Naples to a 56 percent increase in South Naples, overall pending sales for the most recent 12-month period increased by an average of 47 percent. (Closed sales alone accounted for a 48 percent increase with 8,152 closed sales compared to 5,495 closed sales for the previous 12-month period.)
During May 2010, the number of overall pending sales increased nine percent to 887 contracts compared to 812 contracts for May 2009.
Single-family pending sales for May 2010 increased by 10 percent compared to 433 contracts in May 2009.
Closed sales of condominiums in Naples increased by 25 percent in May 2010 compared with 318 closed sales in May 2009. Pending sales of condominiums for the 12-month period ending May 2010 priced under $300,000 increased by 69 percent with 3,573 contracts compared to 2,117 contracts for the previous 12-month period.
The available inventory of single-family and condominiums decreased by 10 percent to 9,006 listings in May 2010 compared to 10,046 listings during the same month last year.
Source: Naples Area Board of REALTORS®
NAPLES TOTAL PENDING SALES INCREASE 47 PERCENT
REPORT SHOWS 9 PERCENT INCREASE IN MEDIAN CLOSED PRICE
SINGLE-FAMILY LUXURY HOME SALES STRONG
The Bonita Springs and Estero real estate markets saw less listings and less sales in May 2010. There were 191 single-family homes that came on the market (similar to the previous month), but there were only 78 closed sales (down 25 percent from the previous month.)
There were 206 condominiums listed in May 2010 compared with 302 listed in January 2010. Condominium closed sales showed their lowest unit numbers in May 2010 with 84 closed sales compared to 74 for the previous month.
Closed sales of single-family homes priced under $200,000 remained consistent with 43 closed sales, compared with 49 closed sales for each of the previous two months. Closed sales of condominiums priced under $200,000 were less than previous months with 64 closed sales compared with 104 and 99 closed sales for April and March 2010.
At the other end of the market in the million-plus price range, there was one condominium closed sale compared with three closed sales in April and three in March. Single-family homes in the million-plus price range continued to sell with nine closed sales in April 2010 for a total of 34 million dollar-plus single-family closed sales year-to-date.
Communities that experienced the most luxury sales were the Brooks, West Bay Club, Palmira and along Bonita Beach. The average million dollar-plus sale was $1,438,500.
Source: The Bonita Springs-Estero Assoc. of REALTORS®
Congress gives homebuyers more time to close for tax credit
Obama signs extension bills
On July 2, Pres. Obama signed into law HR 5623, the Homebuyers Assistance and Improvement Act of 2010, which extends the homebuyer tax credit closing date to Sept. 30, 2010, for qualified buyers with a purchase contract that was signed by April 30, 2010. He also signed HR 5569, which retroactively reauthorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enter into new contracts for flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program through Sept. 30, 2010.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – July 2, 2010 – An estimated 14,830 Florida home buyers missed Wednesday’s deadline to receive an up to $8,000 tax credit on their purchase.
Good thing for them Congress extended the cut off date late Wednesday to Sept. 30. The bill now goes to President Obama.
Homebuyers still had to sign contracts for their purchase by April 30, but now have an additional three months to close the deal.
Nationally, the extension is expected to give about 180,000 homebuyers who signed by April 30 a chance to earn the federal stimulus.
Short sale purchases, which can take several months to close, were hampering many closings.
Buyers “didn’t know when they signed the contract it was going to take the bank four months to close the deal,” said John Sebree, vice president of public policy for the Florida Realtors.
Another problem was the failure of Congress to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program, which put the brakes on lender approvals for some loans. That program was also temporarily extended late Wednesday until Sept. 30.
Realtors are lobbying Congress to approve another bill extending the program for five years.
“It’s really not good for the real estate market to have such uncertainty,” Sebree said.
“All day there was anxiety as to whether or not numerous buyers that did the right thing signing a contract by April 30th would lose out on $8,000 due to slow short sale approvals or delays in financing that were no fault of their own,” said Realtor Shannon Brink, with RE/MAX Prestige Realty in West Palm Beach. “If the tax credit disappeared, there was a significant risk that many buyers would walk away from transactions because they may try and find a better deal.”
Some buyers grew frustrated and have already walked away, said Bob Goldstein, past president of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches and a vice president of the state organization.
The tax credit was initially for new homebuyers only and expired Nov. 30. It was extended to the April 30 and June 30 deadlines, and also expanded so that some current homeowners could earn up to a $6,500 credit.
Copyright © 2010, The Palm Beach Post, Fla., Laura Green and Kimberly Miller. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
