REAL ESTATE NEWSLETTER: MARCH 2024
March 2024 Newsletter
Season has been in full swing since the start of the year, making for very busy days and weeks here in Naples. With Easter approaching this weekend, we expect things to start subsiding a bit as some of our snowbird residents start to head back home for spring.
In the below newsletter, I have included my usual market trend summary, recent real estate news articles and property search tools – if you haven’t set up an account to save your property searches, give it a try, the system my website allows you to search by neighborhood or community which a lot of others (such as Zillow) cannot do. I included a brief summary of the recent National Association of Realtors (NAR) Settlement, as well as an exciting new development; Epique at Pelican Bay, links to other new development pages and links to detailed pages focused on two popular SWFL golf communities – Bonita Bay and Shadow Wood Country Club.
Enjoy and as always, please reach out to talk about your real estate needs, happy to chat about any questions you might have.
Happy Easter everyone, I hope you enjoy the holiday weekend with your loved ones.
~Matt
NAR Settlement Summary
In recent real estate news, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently announced a significant settlement to litigation that looks like it will change the way some parts of our business are conducted. I have outlined some of the basic points below but the settlement is still subject to court approval and there are still more questions than answers. For the moment it’s business as usual with the changes expected to become effective in July. I will update you once more information is available.
- Intention: The overall goal of the litigation and settlement is to create more transparency in the market to make sure buyers understand how agents are being paid, transfer the buyer’s agent’s commission responsibility from the seller to the buyer and allow buyers to negotiate this amount directly with their agent.
- Basics: Home sellers typically agree to a negotiable sales commission, often 5% to 6%, split between the seller’s and buyer’s agents. The recent NAR settlement will prohibit the buyer’s agent commission from being displayed within the MLS. Sellers can still pay for the buyer’s agent commission but real estate professionals will be required to sign an agreement with a buyer clearly outlining what they will be paid for doing their job.
- What it Means for Buyers: Buyers will start to enter into written agreements with their realtors before touring homes, where buyer-broker compensation is clearly stated. If sellers opt not to pay compensation to the buyer’s agent, buyers may incur this cost, with compensation not exceeding the agreed-upon amount.
- Will it Affect Home Prices: Unlikely to affect home prices as sellers base prices on market demand, not closing costs. Home prices are driven more by market conditions and mortgage rates, which have a greater impact on homebuyers’ decisions than the amount they’re required to pay their agents.
In the end, whether you’re buying or selling, the focus remains on working with the highest quality realtor who can provide guidance every step of the way and ensure you get the best possible outcome.
And that’s where I continue to come in…please reach out if you have questions regarding the NAR Settlement details.
Raveis Collection
William Raveis’s Quarterly Raveis Collection has been published. Scroll through the digital magazine to see amazing homes from New England to Florida (Areas include CT, MA, NY, New England, SC & FL). Florida and Naples properties start on page 39.
New Construction Projects
Over the last 6 months we have been highlighting new construction projects in Naples. We still have more to feature, but this month we are releasing details on Epique at Pelican Bay. In the coming months we will also be highlighting The Metropolitan, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Naples and a few more.
If you are interested in new construction, give me a call so we can talk through the many options currently in development.
Estero/Bonita Springs Community Update
For those interested in Estero, Bonita Springs or elite golf communities, I have added two recent community pages to my website for Bonita Bay and Shadow Wood. Both are excellent golf communities and are very popular among my client base. Check the pages and details out when you have time!
I also have a new listing in Bonita Bay on the 10th hole of the Creekside Golf Course, check out the listing details for 3451 Creekview Dr, Bonita Springs.
Featured Listings
Here is a link to my current listings in the Naples area, please contact me if you are interested in seeing any of them.
February 2024: Naples Market Trends and Commentary
In this month’s Naples real estate market trend review, I focused exclusively on properties priced above $2,000,000, which is currently a total of 1,166 properties on the market out of the 5,232 total listings, approximately the top 20% of the Naples market. I also separated the trend lines for single family properties from condominiums so we can see any differences in the markets based property type.
AVERAGE SALES PRICE (12-month rolling averages)
The average single family home sale over $2M in the past 12 months was $4.35M, down 9.5% over the previous 12-month period and down 11% from a peak of $4.89M in AUG of 2022. The average sales price for a condominium over $2M in Naples over the last 12 months was relatively stable at $3.49M.
AVERAGE PRICE PER SQFT (12-month rolling average)
The average single family home sales price-per-square-foot over $2M over the past 12 months was $1,099/SF, down 10.3% over the previous 12 month period which was an all-time peak of $1,225/SF in FEB and MAY of 2023. The average sales price-per-square-foot for a condominium over $2M in Naples over the last 12 months was relatively stable at $1,187/SF.
MONTHS SUPPLY
This is one of the most revealing statistics regarding the current state of the real estate market since it combines the pace of sales with the number of properties currently available. The months of supply indicator measures how long it would take for all the properties on the market to be absorbed/sold if sales continued at the current pace and no additional listings came on the market. Generally 6 months of supply is considered to be a balanced market but within Naples luxury market, higher price points typically have a higher supply.
The supply of properties on the market in Naples over $2M has increased to 16.3 months for single family homes and 15.5 months for condominiums. These numbers are up significantly from last year and are now entering the pre-pandemic “normal” range for Naples luxury real estate which has historically been about 12 to 20 months of supply. It’s interesting to note that in 2017 Naples saw a spike of inventory up to 24-28 months and then settled back down into a more typical range over the course of 2017.
HOMES FOR SALE
At the end of FEB 2024, there were 791 single family homes over $2M on the market in Naples, up 35.7% from FEB 2023 and well above the previous peaks in the high 500s. At the end of FEB, there were 375 condos on the market over $2M, also well above the highs in previous years which was around 175 units on the market over $2M. Properties available above $2M are above previous peaks because overall property values have gone up roughly 1.5 to 2x since the pandemic so we expect to see this trend.
NEW LISTINGS
At price points over $2M in Naples, there were 188 single family homes and 113 condos added to the market in FEB 2024. This is representative of our annual peak listing period during the busy winter high season.
PENDING SALES
For properties priced over $2M in Naples, there was a spike in sales activity in FEB 2024 with 85 single family homes pending as well as 45 condominiums, activity which was fairly similar to that seen in FEB 2023.
TOTAL SALES
Total sales activity for properties over $2M in Naples was down for both single family homes (-6.5%) and condominiums (-15.4%) in FEB 2024. APR and MAY tend to be the busiest months of the year for sales closings as properties that go into contract during peak season JAN-FEB-MAR tend to close in APR and MAY.
TOTAL SALES CHART (12-month rolling total)
As of FEB 2024, the trailing 12-month sales total for single family homes over $2M was 583 homes, down 15.9% from a year ago. Single family home sales activity has been steadily trending downward as the market cools off from a pandemic era sales activity surge of 885 homes closed over $2M from mid-2020 to mid-2021. The 12-month rolling total sales count has flattened out for condominiums over $2M over the past 2.5 years with a consistent range of 280 to 320 condos closed over a 1 year period.
DOLLAR VOLUME OF CLOSED SALES (6-month rolling total)
The total dollar volume of closed single family home sales over $2M in Naples over the last 6 months was $990M, down 24.4% from FEB 2023 and up slightly from JAN 2023. The total dollar volume of closed condominium sales over $2M in Naples over the last 6 months was $390M, up 0.7% from FEB 2023.
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET (6-month rolling average)
Over the last 6 months, single family properties over $2M in Naples spent an average of 80 days on the market, a statistic that has been gradually increasing since the low point in SEPT 2022 of 39 days but is still significantly lower than the average of 150-175 days on the market that were the norm for several years before the pandemic. Over the past 6 months, condominiums spent an average of 72 days on the market, up from a low point of 23 days on the market in AUG of 2022 and the preceding 6 month period.
AVERAGE PERCENT OF LAST SALES PRICE (6-month rolling average)
For single family homes over $2M in Naples over the last 6 months, the average amount of negotiation from the last list price was 5.6%. Over the last 6 months, condominiums over $2M saw an average of 4.9% of negotiation from the last list price. These indicators are similar to the pre-pandemic “normal” range of negotiation in Naples which has typically been 4 to 7% negotiation from the last asking price.
Southwest Florida & Naples Real Estate Market Reports
Each month our real estate newsletter includes previous months published market reports for the Naples Florida area, which includes the William Raveis luxury real estate market report and the Naples Board of Realtors (NABOR) market report.
Search Current Inventory
Below are new properties in Naples and Bonita Springs priced from $2M to $15M, all built after 2015.
