Naples FL Blog

The Florida Association of Realtors has release the corrected figures for the Florida Sales Report for March 2008 - Existing Single Family Homes and Existing Condominiums.  Please note that while there is no line item representing Naples sales, the Naples figures are included in the Statewide totals.

It is difficult for me to determine how the median sales prices have fared from the March 2007 reports because during 2007 the Naples Board of Realtors did not contribute any numbers for this report.  As I reported in my previous blog entry, the Naples Board of Realtors figures showed an increase in pending sales in properties near the beach and in the East Naples area.  Naples sales prices in these areas, I believe are hitting the bottom.

Thursday, the Naples Daily News published an article detailing Hank Fishkind's predictions for the housing market recovery in Collier County.  While Mr. Fishkind described the unsold inventory of new homes in Collier County as "fairly small", as of today, the Naples MLS shows for the Naples area 5,582 active listings for existing condos and 6,079 active listings for existing single family homes.  Given the rate these units are selling, we have roughly a 30 month inventory of condos and a 37 month inventory of single family homes. 

In reviewing the search words that are used to find my web site, I was amazed at the number of searches that came up for "canceling listing agreements".  I am not surprised that there are a number of unhappy sellers in Naples right now.  I just wonder how a seller can insist on sticking to a price on their home that might not be realistic.  I also wonder how an agent decides to take a listing in today's market that is not priced correctly.  Come on guys......there are 11,661 units for sale in Naples.  No matter how special a seller thinks their home is, there are a number of similar homes on the market that buyers are viewing and comparing. 

If you are a seller that is unhappy with your real estate agent, I would advise you to ask the agent to prepare an updated market analysis on your home.  Discuss the number of sales in your area and the number of properties pending and for sale.  Ask your Realtor how long it will take the number of for sale units to be sold based on the number of sales per month.  Once you have all this information, you should be able to see pretty quickly if your home is overpriced.  At that point in time, you, the seller, has to decide if you want to drop your sales price to a more realistic price or hold onto the property.

Over the past year, I have turned down more listings than I think I have turned down in the last 30 years.  I will not make a promise I can not keep.  If I think I can obtain a price for you, I'll tell you.  If I do not think a price  is possible, I'll tell you.  A frank talk between a seller and their Realtor can clear the air and either produce a sale or remove a listing from Naples listing inventory for sale at a later date.

Before the Do Not Call list came into effect, I used to call sellers whose's properties did not sell.  When I asked the question, "Why do you feel your house did not sell?"  90% of the time I would receive the answer, "The house was overpriced."  If you want your home to sell in today's market, location may be a plus but PRICE will be the determining factor to receive an offer from a buyer that may turn into a sale.