Anybody who follows the Old Naples real estate market knows that it has been hot. How hot? Let's compare MLS recorded sales since January 1 with the same period last year:
In 2013, between January 1 and today, April 26, there were 34 closed sales of single family homes with an average sale price of $1,730,015 and a mean sale price of $1,300,000.
In 2014 in the same period, there have been 41 sales (+20%) with an average sale price of $3,050,00 (+76%) and a mean sale price of $2,550,000 (+96%.) So the answer? HOT! HOT! HOT!
But wait. It's not THAT hot. Overall property values have not jumped this much. A great deal of these percentage increases are because sales of the old tear-down homes that made up much of the 2013 statistics are now being supplanted by sales of new homes that are springing up throughout Old Naples. I would forecast that property values in 2014 will probably jump another 25% to 30% as they did from 2012 to 2013.
The forecast? As long as the national economy is doing well for people who have a certain degree of success, Old Naples will continue to attract discerning buyers who recognize the special nature of this seaside village. The old homes with continue to come down and new ones will go up. So the forecast is up in every way.
This summer should be as hot as last year's, and I am not talking about the weather. With the current limited inventory of 50 homes that are currently for sale in Old Naples, smart buyers know that if they wait until next season, prices going to likely do what they did last year between the end of one winter season and the beginning of next. Up, up, up!
Now is a good time to buy, folks. Give me a call.
Bill Van Arsdale
"Loving Old Naples since 1957"