Naples FL Blog

The Florida Sales Reports for existing Single Family Homes and Condominiums have been released. Please remember that when ever you see high lighted text in this blog, you can click on the text to be taken to the information.

You can see from these reports that comparing August 2007 to August 2008 that Realtor® sales are still down as well as median sale prices through out the State.  The Naples Board of Realtors® is still not allowing a line item for the Board but they do contribute numbers to this report.  Time to get those pencils sharpened up to calculate Naples' figures.

My office has seen a sharp increase in pending sales for September of this year compared to last September.  Most of these pending sales, I would guess, are in the under 300K price range.  As of today, there have been 506 pending sales reported to the Sunshine MLS for all of Naples.  341 of those pending sales are listed at under 300K.

People keep asking me my opinion on the current economic crisis and how it will affect real estate in Naples.  In my opinion I can foresee that baby boomers who were planning to retire may decide to put off that decision due to the decline of their investments.  These same baby boomers may decide to wait to purchase a second home or retirement home until their investments come back.  We will most likely see a drop in pending sales until people feel more confident.

This will mean that Naples Sellers will have to become more aggressive in their pricing.  I have said it before and I will say it again, if you do not "have to" sell your house, DO NOT put it on the market. Sellers who do not have to sell, increase our listing inventory and extend our absorbtion rate. (The ratio of the number of properties in an area that have been sold against the number available.)

Buyers, if you have the money to make a buying decision in Naples, FL, now is the time to do it.

This morning I drove over to Naples Memorial Gardens to view the replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and pay my respects to the fallen.  I have never had the opportunity to view the actual Memorial in Washington D.C., so I did not want to miss this opportunity as today is the last day for viewing.  There was also an exhibit of the Quilt of Tears, a tribute to all who have been victims of exposure to Agent Orange.

It has been a gray drizzly day in Naples.  As I walked by the names on the Wall and saw all the drops of rain on the Memorial, I thought about  the oceans of tears that have been shed for all fallen G.I.'s.  I am 56 years old and remember the Vietnam War.  I have been in a somber mood since I returned.