December home sales increase in Naples, Fort Myers

In Southwest Florida, “Home for Christmas” took on a new meaning last month.

In December, home sales made with the help of a Realtor grew in the Naples and Fort Myers markets, though the median price for those sales continued to fall.

In the Naples area, there were 409 single-family and condominium sales, compared to 285 a year ago, nearly a 44 percent increase, according to a monthly report by the Naples Area Board of Realtors (NABOR). The report reflects sales made through the SunshineMLS, or multiple listing service, in Collier County, excluding Marco Island.

Sales in the Naples area grew for the 11th straight month in December. Single-family home sales alone were up more than 71 percent last month.

Pending sales _ sales that have yet to close _ continued to grow in December in the Naples market. There were 519, up from 259 a year ago. Pending sales for homes priced at less than $300,000 grew 304 percent last month to 384, up from 95 a year ago. Home inventories are shrinking in both markets.

In December, there were 10,326 single-family homes for sale in the Fort Myers area through the MLS. That’s less than a nine-month supply, down from nearly a two-year supply a year ago.
In the Naples area, there were 10,851 homes listed for sale in December, down from 11,456 a year ago.

“Over the past 12 months, 5.3 percent of the available inventory has depleted, indicating that the properties that are priced right are being picked off,” said JP Antonmattei, NABOR’s president-elect with Amerivest Realty in Naples. “Inventory is not building up exponentially.”
Source: Naplesnews.com
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Foxfire Golf Community - Closed Sale Info

Foxfire Community Statistics - December 2008; Sold, Pending and Active Listings

42 - Active
3 - Closed
Source: SunshineMLS, Inc.

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Housing Recovery by Spring?

Financial mogul Sam Zell, beleaguered owner of the Tribune Co. that declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, told an Israeli business conference Sunday that the U.S. real estate market will be in recovery by spring 2009.

Zell pointed out that the U.S. population is growing, and with fewer than 600,000 building starts in 2008, a million fewer than any of the last 10 years, demand for housing will rise.

Zell blamed the current crisis - at least in part - on ill-considered decisions. "We are living through our first Blackberry recession where, literally, information is instantly disseminated around the world and people, in effect, respond to it, perhaps, often without any particular caution or attention," he said.

Source: Reuters News, Ori Lewis (12/14/2008)© Copyright 2008 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD

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Foxfire Golf Community - Closed Sale Info

Foxfire Community Statistics - November 2008; Sold, Pending and Active Listings

49 - Active
2 - Pending
1 - Closed
Source: SunshineMLS, Inc.

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Florida Association of Realtors report indicates home sales up in third quarter

According to the latest housing statistics from the Florida Association of Realtors, sales of existing single-family homes in Florida rose 5 percent in third quarter 2008 compared to the same period last year. A total of 33,203 existing homes sold statewide in the third quarter this year; during the same period last year, 31,558 existing homes sold statewide.
FAR reports the statewide existinghome median sales price was $185,400 in the third quarter; a year ago, it was $233,200 for a decrease of 20 percent. In 2003, the third-quarter statewide median sales price was $163,700, which reflects an increase of about 13.3 percent over the five-year period. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half for less.
To gain insight into Florida's real estate industry trends, the University of Florida's Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies conducts a quarterly survey of industry executives, market research economists, real estate scholars and other experts. Based on the third quarter 2008 survey, the investment outlook for various types of properties remains steady.
"People who have responded to our surveys have not lost their faith in Florida as a place to be and a place to invest," Wayne Archer, director of the center, said. "We have 40 pages of comments… and although the dominant theme is the disruption of financing, perhaps the second theme, as one person put it, is people being on the sidelines with full pads and helmets just waiting to jump back in."
Source: Florida Weekly

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Foxfire Golf Community - Closed Sale Info

Foxfire Community Statistics - October 2008; Sold, Pending and Active Listings

45 - Active
4 - Pending
2 - Closed
Source: SunshineMLS, Inc.

Search Naples FL Golf Course Homes for Sale in Foxfire