SW Florida homes not selling as quickly as much of America; Collier County part of a trend
It used to be 90 days was considered typical in which folks would sell their homes.
In fact, many of us earlier this century and prior had to negotiate with Realtors who demanded half-year or more listing agreements for selling because they felt three months wasn't enough for them to get the job done.
And that latter timespan had been a common theme in some National Association of Realtors playbooks on various topics, whether putting a domicile for sale or just simply beginning a career, such as 2005's "90 Days to Real Estate Success: A Week-by-Week Guide."
But then, as has been repeatedly covered, the tax cuts greatly benefitting the wealthy and companies of late last decade factored in spurring a buying frenzy and bidding war among cash-flushed investors that then kicked into overdrive in the COVID era. The resulting escalating prices ended up helping leave many families sidelined, unable to compete on costs and with time frames of abodes selling well above asking price within minutes and hours of listing.
Now, new data shows how far we've come but that also Southwest Florida has begun falling behind the rest of the nation with how quickly property is coming off the market.
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Amazingly, a place going to pending in 41 days is now a comparably poor performance in America, according to Creditnews Research's Zillow study of January 2024 activity of the 100 largest metro areas. That's the seventh slowest median turnaround in the United States and belongs to Lee County. Austin, Texas was the worst at 66 days.
While smaller Collier County wasn't measured, local leaders are seeing a slowdown in their own stats, which is compiled based on average days. For the Naples Area Board of Realtors known as NABOR, that was 61 in January as the inventory grows, compared to 53 a year ago and 24 two years ago.
“Days on market will continue to climb,” said Jillian Young, president of Premiere Plus Realty, which this month became part of United Real Estate, the country's sixth-largest real estate company. “There are buyers who purchased a home impulsively during the pandemic, and now they are rethinking their decision. And because a lot of them are second-home buyers, they aren’t motivated in a way typical of other sellers, so they’ve been less likely to adjust their list prices or negotiate.”
A NABOR analysis completed this month defined the environment this way: "Buyer intent has shifted from pandemic years of 'I want a home in Naples,' to a more sensible climate today of 'I want the right home in Naples.'"
"We are in the type of market today that will differentiate between those who are realistic about selling and those who are still dabbling based on past perceptions," said Budge Huskey, CEO of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. "The increased inventory is motivating sellers to pay more attention to pricing the home competitively for today’s market and buyer.
"Values increased approximately 60% over the last three and a half years in our market so if a small amount is given back, most sellers will still enjoy a very healthy profit at time of sale.”
Indeed. In January, NABOR listed 484 sales and the median price was $607,000, down less than a percent from a year ago for 564 transactions, but well ahead of January 2021's $395,000 and January 2020's $343,000.
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As we've previously reported with the top-shelf pricing here, investors are now targeting comparably more affordable spots that didn't experience as much of the selling blitz that we had here earlier this decade. That's part of why Hartford, Connecticut homes are going fastest nationally in eight days, followed by nine days for New York burgs, Rochester and Syracuse, according to Creditnews.
For NABOR, days on market are nowhere near the 107 of January 2020.
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. He writes In the Know, one of USA TODAY Network's most read local news columns in the state. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples, SW FL homes among slowest to sell in US
