According to the July 2024 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County, Florida (excluding Marco Island), closed sales during July decreased 2.6% to 608 from 624 in July 2023. Furthermore, pending sales activity reported for July decreased 15.7%, suggesting that we can expect closed sales declines for August as well.
Comparing current NABOR® data to 2019, when our housing market activity was “normal” (pre-pandemic), year-to-date closed sales are down 16% and July closed sales were down 29%. We essentially ’borrowed’ sales from the future during the pandemic, when the mad rush to relocate to Florida set a wave in motion based on a temporary surge in demand. Naturally, in response, prices began to increase as inventory was gobbled up (down to 1,042 homes in in December 2021). Yet this rush was short-lived, and many current sellers have yet to adapt to the new reality.
Overall inventory has been climbing for the last 28 months. For July, inventory increased 50.5% to 4,352 properties from 2,892 properties in July 2023. There are now 6.2 months of inventory available, up from 2.9 months in July 2023. Conversely, overall closed sales have been declining since July 2021, or 36 months ago. As inventory levels have returned to historically normal levels, adding competition for sellers, too many sellers still expect to receive aspirational prices, at a time when there are fewer buyers in general and buyers have become significantly more price conscious.
On average, home values in Naples have increased 50% since 2019, due in large part to the buying frenzy of the pandemic. However, inventory has increased substantially, and sellers would be well advised to price their homes competitively for today’s market. Factors such as rising HOA or condo fee assessments and the increasing cost of insurance are raising financial concerns for a large number of buyers. While prices have not come down significantly, there is an indication in the July report that more negotiations are taking place. The percent of list price received in July decreased slightly to 94.8% from 96.1% in July 2023. Yet, the median closed sale price during July decreased only about 1%.