Naples market on fire in February

The February 2021 Market Report, released by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), marks the last month of comparative activity before the pandemic shuttered the global economy in March 2020. That said, overall closed sales of existing homes in Naples for February increased 62 percent to 1,307 closed sales from 807 closed sales in February 2020.

Buyers are scooping up the available inventory of homes in all geographic locations within Naples almost as fast as they come onto the market. Inventory fell 68.8 percent in February to 2,224 homes from 7,127 homes in February 2020. (more…)

Buyers are overpaying, but are there signs of a bubble?

As prices continue to soar, Housing Wire asks the question: Are there signs of a bubble?

“The national average of home prices rose 14.4% year-over-year to $336,200 in February – the largest increase since July 2013, according to the latest report from Redfin. As proof of the impact of the country’s low inventory and high cost of building materials, new listings fell 16% – the second-largest decline on record since Redfin’s data began in 2012, only passed by the drop in April 2020. (more…)

Goodbye sub 3% mortgages

It was only last July that the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) dropped below 3% for the first time and this week it moved back above 3% again, following the direction of the 10-year Treasury Note (10T).

Mortgage rates (more…)

Where have all the sellers gone?

As I read this New York Times article: Where have all the houses gone? my mind went to Yogi Berra’s line of “it’s deja vu all over again” as I checked my files and discovered that this will be my 5th article with this title – and the first was written in 2013.

Let’s look at the what and the why.

First, the what. This chart shows that inventory has plummeted across the country:

Housing Inventory

The why (more…)

How do prices in Southwest Florida compare with 2007/08?

While the market in Southwest Florida is hot and prices are rising sharply, it is interesting to see how prices compare with the peak from 2006/2008.

Naples
The median Single Family Home price in Naples has only just passed the earlier peak.

(more…)

Why was this stunning Florida mansion abandoned?

“In the heart of Florida sits this impressive neo-Classical mansion, known as the Money Pit Mansion. Having lain empty for decades, its various owners have been unable to restore it to its former glory due to high costs and substantial damage.” (Read MSN article )

Money Pit

© Abandoned Southeast

The house was built in the early 1900s and is still considered one of the most ornate mansions in the area with its Grecian-style pillars. (more…)

Is Tom Brady staying in Florida?

As we Patriots’ fans find ourselves watching the play-offs this year from a position of curiosity rather than passion, we can I hope root for “Patriots South”, aka the Tampa Bay Bucs, home of Tom Brady and Gronk.

Following on from his “you won’t catch me dead living in the Northeast anymore” comment, Brady and Giselle have made moves in real estate which seem to support this statement. (more…)

It’s 80 degrees in Florida…

In this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan wrote:
“In the past year the owners of great businesses found how much can be done remotely.
They hadn’t known that!
They hadn’t had to find out.
They don’t have to pay that killer rent for office space anymore.
People think it will all snap back when the pandemic is fully over but no, a human habit broke; a new way of operating has begun. People will come back to office life to some degree, maybe a significant one; not everything can be done remotely; people want to gather, make friends, instill a sense of mission; but it will never be what it was.
The Partnership for New York City reports 300,000 residents of high-income neighborhoods have filed change-of-address forms with the U.S. Postal Service. You know where they are going: to lower-tax and no-income-tax states.

A recent report suggested that 850 people per day will move to Florida for the next 5 years as they seek “the weather, lifestyle and tax benefits” offered by Florida. (more…)