Inventory in January 2020 had a 26% decrease to 5,761 properties as compared to 7,773 properties in January 2019. Yet overall closed sales has many broker analysts optimistic that continued strong sales activity can be expected through the first quarter.
Collier County gained 360 more listings in January 2020 than what was available in December 2019. There is a 6.6 month supply of homes, which is higher than many other hot markets in Florida. A recent Realtor.com analysis showed that other areas in Florida also experienced double-digit decreases in active listings for January including Tampa/St Pete, Orlando and Miami/Ft.Lauderale/West Palm Beach.
Mike Hughes, local real estate General Manager states “unlike 1st quarter 2019, home buyers should move quickly, as time is not your friend 1st quarter 2020, especially those in the high-end home market” referring to homes in the $1million to $2million single family home market in Collier County, which saw a 20% increase in closed sales year over year ending January 2020.
“A year ago, many economists were predicting a recession by the end of 2019, but they’ve since changed their tune and the affluent buyer is listening” said Budge Huskey, President of a local real estate firm. “It looks like many buyers are rebalancing their portfolios and pulling money out of the stock market to buy home because they fear they won’t make the same returns as last year. The stock market inertia has reignited the luxury markets. Purchasing power is bringing back home buyers to the Naples area luxury home market. In essence, they believe now is the time to buy a luxury home in Naples.”
Spencer E. Haynes, Broker with another local real estate firm states “Seasonal visitors arrived earlier and spent more time during the 2019 holiday season looking for homes to purchase than in the previous holiday season.” This was demonstrated in the November and December 2019 market reports, which showed a 27% and 21% increase in pending sales.
Median closed prices increased 5.5% in January to $343,000.00 compared to $325,000.00 in January 2019. This is still a much lower median closed price than January 2018, which was $375,000.00.
Adam Vellano, Sales Manager of a local real estate company, noted that the report showed 1,885 price reductions in January, which is “mostly old inventory that is finally coming to the buyer as a result of appealing price reductions”.
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