01 Jun Bonita Bay Real Estate News | June 2023
As of June 1, 2023, there are 60 active listings in our area multiple listing service (MLS) in Bonita Bay; 5 more than last month.
For comparison, last year on June 1, there were 15 listings in Bonita Bay.
There are 17 single-family homes on the market from $795,000 to $5,200,000. The average list price is $2,301,229 and the average days on the market is 86. The combined days on the market is 116.
There are 20 listings in the carriage, mid-rise, townhouse, and attached villa market with prices ranging from $495,000 to $950,000. The average list price is $717,280 and the average days on the market is 60. The combined days on the market is 63.
In the high-rise market, there are 23 active listings in Bonita Bay ranging in price from $899,900 to $5,550,000. The average list price is $2,890,235 and the average days on the market is 129. The combined days on the market is 130.
A reminder, you have access to the most comprehensive website devoted to Bonita Bay, BonitaBayRealty.com. I’ve included maps, floor plans, photos, and descriptions of each neighborhood within this desirable community.
Please contact me for all your real estate needs in Bonita Bay. With over 35 years of helping buyers and sellers in SWFL, my experience will be invaluable in this fast-moving, low-inventory market.
Your Bonita Bay REALTOR®,
Ed Gongola
SUMMARY OF BONITA BAY HOME SALES
If you are considering selling your Bonita Bay home, here are some statistics that may help you decide to place your home on the market:
BONITA BAY CARRIAGE, MID-RISE, TOWNHOUSE AND ATTACHED VILLA HOMES
- Within the last 12 months, there were 66 sales with an average sales price of $685,155; these condos were on the market an average of 20 days; combined days on the market is 66.
- During the 12 months previous, there were 90 sales with an average sales price of condominiums was $561,426; these homes were on the market for 9 days; combined days on the market is 48.
BONITA BAY HIGH-RISES
- During the last 12 months, there were 61 sales with an average sales price of $3,269,656; these homes were on the market an average of 111; combined days on the market is 434.
- During the 12 months previous, there were 76 sales with an average sales price of $1,900,367; these homes were on the market for an average of 46 days; combined days on the market is 98.
SINGLE-FAMILY BONITA BAY HOMES
- During the last 12 months, there were 43 sales with an average sales price of $2,172,244; these homes were on the market an average of 33 days; combined days on the market is 93.
- During the 12 months previous, there were 63 sales with an average sales price of $1,905,663; these homes were on the market for an average of 30 days; combined days on the market is 90.
For a list of BONITA BAY homes sold in the last 12 months, click here.
For a list of BONITA BAY homes that are pending at the moment, click here.
Meet Ed Gongola and discover how he can help you with his concierge style of service when buying or selling your home.
June 2023 Market Update
DOWNING-FRYE: HIGH-END MARKET STILL DOING WELL
“We are now over five months into 2023 and certain observations can be made,” said Mike Hughes, V. P. and Gen. Mgr. of Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. “The first observation is that there is a real shortage of low-end priced listings, and because of this, properties listed below $350,000 are moving quickly and will probably result in multiple offers. The second observation is that the high-end market continues to do well. Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. typically has about 22 pending sales above $1 million in the month of May, but this year we had 47 pending sales above $1 million! The overall listing inventory in the area has come up quite a bit from last year, but it is still low compared to what we have seen historically. One surprise is that Downing-Frye’s rental listing inventory is starting to climb. For a while, it was decreasing. This market is still pretty good for sellers. Cash buyers are finding more properties to view and discovering that some sellers are more willing to negotiate slightly. For buyers that require financing, many are wrestling with where current interest rates might go. Overall, it is difficult to time the market, but opportunities are there. Working with a Realtor is very helpful in navigating this kind of market.”
BONITA / ESTERO: SUPPLY STILL AN ISSUE
The inventory of available properties is slowly recovering but still facing strong overall demand. April’s inventory of 794 properties was a 70.8% increase over April 2022, but down by 48% from April 2020. A contributing factor is the continued desirability of southwest Florida. “According to the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, 1,218 people move to Florida every day,” said Jerry Murphy, Managing Broker of Downing-Frye’s Bonita Springs office. “The new market of buyers are purchasing homes here in southwest Florida to live in them and not just flip them or buy them as an investment. Many people are also staying here year-round and selling their homes up north.” In April 2023, the median closed sales price was $565,000, up 2.9% from April 2022. Cash sales accounted for 72% of total sales.
NAPLES AREA: CLIMBING HOME VALUES
The Naples real estate market enjoyed another month of increased home values driven mainly by another month of below typical inventory levels. Overall inventory increased 64.4% in April to 2,868 homes for sale from 1,745 homes for sale in April 2022. In April, the median closed price for single family homes increased 3.1% to $825,000 from $800,000 in April 2022. In the condominium market, the median closed price increased 14.3% in April to $526,000 from $460,000 in April 2022. As a result of slow inventory gains this year, pending and closed sales activity simmered slightly in April compared to March. Pending sales decreased 18.4% to 1,123 pending sales from 1,377 pending sales in April 2022, and closed sales in April decreased 24.2% to 947 closed sales from 1,250 closed sales in April 2022. The overall median closed sales price in April 2023 was $627,500, up 5.5% from April 2022.
MARCO ISLAND AREA: 80% CASH BUYERS
The Marco Island Area Assoc. of Realtors® reported April 2023 figures: 43 homes were sold for the median sell price of $1.5M (sales down 24% from April 2022) averaging 73 days on the market; 56 condos were sold for the median sell price of $725K (sales up 2% from April 2022) averaging 50 days on the market; 11 lots were sold with the median sell price of $750K (sales down 37% from April 2022) averaging 129 days on the market. The total inventory at the end of April 2023 was 464 properties (up 106% from April 2022).
FLORIDA: INVENTORY RISES
In April, closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide totaled 23,334, down 17.2% year-over-year, while existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 10,040, down 26.8% over April 2022. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in April was $410,000, the same as in April 2022, and for condo-townhouse units was $325,000, up 4.8% over the year-ago figure. Active listings rose year-over-year with single-family existing homes at a 2.6-months’ supply in April, while condo-townhouse inventory was at a 3.5-months’ supply.
USA: PENDING HOME SALES STEADY
Pending home sales were unchanged in April. Month over month, contract signings improved in three U.S. regions but dropped in the Northeast.
“Not all buying interests are being completed due to limited inventory,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Affordability challenges certainly remain and continue to hold back contract signings, but a sizeable increase in housing inventory will be critical to get more Americans moving.”
Sources: The Bonita Springs-Estero REALTORS®/SWFLMLS, Naples Area Board of REALTORS®, National Assoc. of REALTORS®, Florida REALTORS® and Marco Island Area Assoc. of REALTORS®
More Than 500K Florida Renters Lie About Having a Pet
Many landlords don’t want pets, so about 1 in 5 Fla. renters (19%) say they lie to their landlord about living with a pet – roughly 504,684 undocumented animals.
Having a pet and renting a property poses challenges. Landlords are often reluctant to allow them – barking, shredded cushions and scratched furniture are some of the reasons. But figures show that 86 million households own a pet – and also that 1 in 3 of them rent. Ergo, this must mean that there are a lot of renters out there who live with their pets in someone else’s property – but how many of them have actually declared them to their landlord?
AgentAdvice.com wanted to find out and surveyed 3,000 pet-owning tenants. They first discovered that 18% of them had kept the existence of Buddy quiet – equating to about 7.7 million pets across the country. That’s a lot of barking to try and cough over, or scratched table legs to try and cover-up.
In Florida, 19% of pet-owning renters admit to not disclosing this to their landlords (equating to 504,684 illegal pets).
The guiltiest pet owners are in Vermont, with the percentage of households hiding illegal pets reaching 50%, or 36,791 furry friends. The most law-abiding pet-owning renters live in Indiana, where the figure is just 4% or 32,400 pets.
Renters have it tough enough as it is, with landlords always having the upper hand in the situation. However, given the choice, the survey found that 82% of pet owners would be willing to pay an additional fee to keep their furry friend in the rental property with them – the extra cost could quite easily be used to make any repairs to anything that was damaged.
And when it comes to how much people would be willing to pay on top of their rent, the average amount was $375.69.
Not all neighbors would be put off by the fact someone next door had a pet, either. AgentAdvice.com also asked, hypothetically, “If your property renewal was coming up and someone new was moving in with a dog, would you consider finding somewhere else to live?” Only 26% said yes, suggesting that the vast majority of Floridians are actually pet-friendly.
The research also revealed that two-thirds thought it was fair for landlords to ask tenants to leave the property if it turned out they had pets that were not permitted. The challenge of finding a rental property that allows pets discourages 58% of people from getting a pet if they are renters.
“Caring for a pet is a responsibility that requires commitment and dedication, yet the current rental market often makes it challenging for pet owners to find suitable and affordable accommodations. Discriminatory pet policies and limited pet-friendly options not only place an undue burden on renters but also deny them the joy and companionship that pets bring to their lives,” says Chris Heller of AgentAdvice.com.
© Copyright 2023 Florida Weekly
Home Values Continue to Climb in April
The Naples real estate market enjoyed another month of increased home values driven mainly by another month of below typical inventory levels. According to the area’s top real estate brokers, resale home inventory in Naples this year will unlikely spike to levels we enjoyed before the pandemic. However, since 2019, the number of new listings each month has remained fairly consistent, with most months enjoying an average of between 1,100 and 1,300 new listings. According to the April 2023 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), overall inventory increased 64.4 percent in April to 2,868 homes for sale from 1,745 homes for sale in April 2022.
Broker analysts reviewing the report like Mike Hughes, Vice President and General Manager for Downing-Frye Realty, Inc., speculate that “even though buyers today are facing headwinds like high interest rates, rising property and flood insurance rates, and low inventory levels, these factors are not diminishing people’s desire to live in Naples.”
Cindy Carroll, SRA, of Carroll & Carroll Appraisers & Consultants, LLC, who advocates against comparing activity today to activity during the COVID-boom years (2020-2022), said she is “comforted by the fact that our area shows resilience to 2019. Homebuyers shouldn’t get too hung up on the months of inventory number reported because it fluctuates wildly depending on where you want to buy a home in Naples. For example, the Port Royal area has a 1.3 year supply today. The truth is we are heading back to 2019; a time when the housing market was stable, foundational, and logical. That is what should be happening, and it is.”
With this more accurate comparative method in mind, closed sales decreased 16.5 percent to 1,017 closed sales from 1,218 closed sales in March 2022; but compared to March 2019, closed sales increased 2.6 percent. Pending sales in March decreased 14.5 percent to 1,377 pending sales from 1,611 pending sales in March 2022; but compared to March 2019, pending sales increased 22 percent.
While new listing growth was relatively static in the first quarter of 2023, Wes Kunkle, President and Managing Broker at Kunkle International Realty, believes some potential sellers in Naples are sitting on the fence because they fear a possible recession may impact their home’s value and/or want to wait and see whether interest rates drop. New listings during March decreased 17.9 percent to 1,369 new listings from 1,667 new listings in March 2022; but compared to March 2019, new listings for the month decreased only 2.5 percent. Yet according to Adam Vellano, a Naples Sales Manager at Compass Florida, “the price decreases reported in March were by sellers who failed to price their homes competitively when they originally listed them, but very few of these decreases were below today’s comps.”
The NABOR® March 2023 Market Report provides comparisons of single-family home and condominium sales (via the Southwest Florida MLS), price ranges, and geographic segmentation and includes an overall market summary. NABOR® sales statistics are presented in chart format, including these overall (single-family and condominium) findings for 2023:
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Buyers in Naples today need to be aware of their insurance cost obligation before negotiations. Jeff Jones, Broker at Keller Williams Naples, recommends each buyer “check with their insurer before contract negotiations to make sure the home meets current coverage requirements, and the cost doesn’t sabotage the sale. In all cases, the buyer can assume the seller’s flood insurance policy, but not a homeowner’s policy.”
Another interesting observation about activity in April came from Molly Lane, Senior Vice President at William Raveis Real Estate, who remarked, “Homes in luxury, gated communities that include a golf membership are highly desirable and selling quickly these days because a majority of private courses in Naples have a two-year or more waiting list.”
Understanding a home’s true market value can be a complicated process when there is great market dispersion and many factors influencing list price determination. Sherry Stein, CRB, Managing Broker, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, said, “Working with an experienced REALTOR® in Naples who has the skills and marketing expertise to navigate the process will be an asset for both a buyer and seller today.”
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If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Naples, contact a Naples REALTOR® who has the experience and knowledge to provide an accurate market comparison or negotiate a sale. A REALTOR® can ensure your next purchase or sale in the Naples area is a success. Search for your dream home and find a Naples REALTOR® on Naplesarea.com.
The Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®) is an established organization (Chartered in 1949) whose members have a positive and progressive impact on the Naples Community. NABOR® is a local board of REALTORS® and real estate professionals with a legacy of nearly 60 years serving 6,000 plus members. NABOR® is a member of the Florida Realtors and the National Association of REALTORS®, which is the largest association in the United States with more than 1.3 million members and over 1,400 local board of REALTORS® nationwide. NABOR® is structured to provide programs and services to its membership through various committees and the NABOR® Board of Directors, all of whose members are non-paid volunteers.
The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics.
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DeSantis Signs Renter Fee Bill
Starting July 1, renters may get the option to pay a monthly fee instead of a security deposit. However, fee money cannot be used to cover any damage costs.
On Friday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a heavily debated bill that can enable landlords to charge renters monthly fees instead of security deposits. The bill (HB 133), which passed the Florida Legislature in April, was one of 12 measures DeSantis signed Friday.
Under the bill, landlords would be able to offer monthly fees to tenants instead of security deposits, though landlords are not required to do so. Renters would decide whether to pay the fees or a deposit. The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2023.
In the face of Florida’s risi
ng rental costs, the bill’s supporters say it provides an option to help renters get into apartments without having to come up with potentially thousands of dollars in upfront money.
In turn, opponents say the fees would not be capped, and that renters can’t eventually recoup the money, like they might with security deposits. The monthly fee also isn’t insurance, and also note that renters can still be forced to pay for damages after they move out.
For details on the new lease system, consult the bill itself. It outlines the conditions a landlord must follow in order to offer this type of payment option.
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Why Chose Me as Your REALTOR®?
To learn more about me and my real estate business and Bonita Bay real estate specifically, I encourage you read the About Ed section as well as the Testimonial section of the site. Over the years, my clients have expressed their satisfaction in my services and I’ve showcased their kind words so you can determine if I am the right REALTOR® to represent you.If you are curious as to my sales success, visit my Sold Homes page. This gives a clear picture of exactly what I’ve accomplished and, more importantly, what I can accomplish for you. |
