Bonita Springs – Estero – Naples Real Estate; Season Year Round when it comes to sales

As printed in the News-Press, April 24, 2010

Season Year Round

In many areas of the country, there is a distinct buying season, when there are more buyers, more homes on the market, and more closed sales. For a variety of reasons, buyers tend to take a break in the winter and make a comeback in the spring. The buying season then lasts until fall, when sales begin to slow, and the cycle starts all over again.

What many buyers in Southwest Florida don’t realize is that the conventional buying season logic doesn’t apply here. For a variety of reasons, the Southwest Florida real estate market doesn’t have the same ebb and flow that other areas do – the flow of buyers, listings, and closed sales remains pretty constant here.

A neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis of the areas I serve demonstrates that in Southwest Florida, buyers buy all year round. For example, Shadow Wood at the Brooks has had right around 100 properties active over the last year, with only a slight decline over time – in keeping with Southwest Florida’s downward trend in inventory. Likewise, the neighborhood has had a fairly steady rate of three to five closed sales each month, with a slight upward trend in sales that reflects the stabilization of the market as a whole. As another example, The Colony has had roughly 80 to 100 active listings every month, with the same gradual decline in inventory; and around six to eight closed sales each month, with a similarly positive trend.

(Click here to view more community market reports: Shadow Wood at the Brooks is beginning to level out from its tremendous sales spike after the membership turnover. Sales will continue from the large number of sales pended in February, March & April. We expect sales will be ongoing over the summer months, especially with the new membership. If your property is still on the market after this past season it wasn’t perceived to have the value the other homes had that sold. About 13% of the inventory sold in April. )

Since the changes are gradual and steady, it is clear that what we are seeing is the market stabilizing in each of these neighborhoods individually – NOT a seasonal ebb and flow. Instead, the trends remain constant throughout the year. What we are seeing in these individual neighborhoods are also indicative of the trends found in the Naples, Bonita, and Estero market areas as a whole, which shows that the individual neighborhoods’ sales are consistent with those in the larger market.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the year-round buying season has to do with weather. Areas with warm-weather buying seasons usually have colder, wetter weather in the winter. Whether because buyers don’t relish the thought of going around and seeing homes in that weather, or because homes simply show better in the growing season, we don’t have to worry about that here. Nice weather year round keeps buyers interested and homes ready to show!

Another possible factor in the real estate buying season is school. Ideally, most families would prefer to move during summer, so that they disrupt their children’s education as little as possible. To this end, many buyers who have children start shopping for a home in the spring. The fact that the busy season in many areas ends around October, only a couple of months after school lets back in, is probably not a coincidence.

The fact that Southwest Florida doesn’t follow this pattern, but instead has a pretty steady stream of buyers throughout the year, probably has to do with the demographics of our buyers. Considerably tax benefits for retirees has traditionally made our area a popular choice, and of course retirees aren’t going to make their decisions about when to start shopping for a home based on when school is in session. The same goes for many of our other buyers, whether they are international buyers, folks looking for a vacation home, or young couples who are looking to cash in on the competitive prices currently available.

My point is, Southwest Florida real estate is always in season. Although many buyers assume that we suffer the same slowdown in the winter months as other areas, the truth is that here you can list your home for sale in December and still have the same chances of selling as you would in June. Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that there is a year-round demand for luxury real estate in Southwest Florida!

If you would like to discuss seasonal sales trends at greater length, or if you are interested in buying or selling a home, please don’t hesitate to contact me. As a luxury real estate professional with lots of experience in Southwest Florida, I am extremely familiar with the individual neighborhoods and their sales trends, and I am always happy to answer your questions regarding the market!

Contributed by D. Michael Burke, P.A. Keller Williams Elite Realty
Michael@CoconutPointRealEstate.com / www.CoconutPointRealEstate.com