Naples Bonita Springs Estero Florida

For my friends in New England, especially northeast Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, my heart goes out to you... I do feel your pain.

The photos to the right were taken in January of 2005 just six weeks or so from when we packed up and moved to southwest Florida! And yes, that's me on the ladder - again, and for the last time! - hacking the snow and ice dams off the roof. The second story is the real trick! The picture was taken in Andover, MA.

In the past few days I have spoken to clients in Salem, NH who just got power back after five days. Today I spoke with a collegue a little further north and they are still without power and don't know when it's likely to return.

They share generators in the neighborhood to keep the homes from freezing (you can do that with oil-fired furnace and hot water recirculators easily) and keep food in the refrigerator from spoiling.

Many homes in these area have deep wells for fresh water that run on 220v and the little generators just will not do it. I'm told of lines at the local gym not for the equipment but to take a shower and the "facility"!

They may be looking at blizzard this weekend on top of all that!

Best of luck to everyone in that affected area.

So says the headline of a press release issued by the Naples Board of Realtors on the Naples area real estate market statistics for Collier County excluding Marco Island.

Two key indicators

Overall pending sales continues to increase overall for single-family homes and condos. However, the pending sales increase for single family homes is most dramatic. I've been reporting on this for sometime now.

Average Days on Market (DOM) has decreased 20% year-over-year to now 169 days says the press release.

A VP for a local real estate firm is quoted as saying that there is a significant decrease in DOM for properties under $300,000. These "choice properties" are being sold at a "swift pace, which is a key change.

The median sales price decreased 25% over the past twelve months due to the tremendous increase in activity in the below $300,000 segment.

Key points highlighted:

• Overall Pending home sales up 54% year-over-year
• Overall Pending home sales for properties less than $300,000 increased 198% year-over-year
• Single-family pending sales increased 87% and in the below $300,000 segment pending sales increased 362% year-over-year
• Overall condo pending sales increased 20% year-over-year and the below $300,000 segment increased 91%

Anyway you look at it, real estate in the Naples area is selling. It's where many folks want to be now or in the future and there is no question that the buying climate has improved.

I've run similar numbers for the Bonita Springs and Estero real estate market. The general trend holds true.

Want the actual report? Go to my website and send me a note.

www.BobPisa.com