By Robert Nardi
Brokers reviewing the March 2025 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), agree that the Naples area housing market has become a Buyer’s market – where the supply exceeds the demand – as reflected in a 36.1 percent increase in overall inventory to 7,483 properties from 5,500 properties in March 2024. Overall closed sales decreased 9.3 percent in March to 820 closed sales from 904 closed sales in March 2024, putting pressure on sellers to drop prices before season ends. Even with 3,305 price decreases reported during March – the highest on record – overall pending sales decreased 7.3 percent to 1,212 pending sales from 1,300 pending sales in March 2024. Sellers should expect a home to be on the market longer and are encouraged to entertain offers and contingencies. Inventory levels finally exceeded pre-Covid levels in March – 7,483 properties vs. 6,829 properties in March 2019. With more options for Buyers, days on market for March increased 26.5 percent to 86 days from 68 days in March 2024. Plus, the 5.1 percent increase in new listings during March to 1,617 new listings from 1,538 new listings in March 2024 has pushed our market to 11.4 months of inventory compared to 7.7 months of inventory in March 2024. Carroll & Carroll, an appraisal company, announced that they are seeing a half percent decrease in home values each month in some market areas and predicts the market decline rate may be up to 1 percent a month by the end of summer. The median closed price of single-family homes reported no change in price year over year, $770,000. However, the median closed price of condominiums decreased 7.1 percent to $486,000 from $523,000 in March 2024.
The NABOR® March 2025 Market Report compares 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 (CLICK HERE).
What does this all mean?
It is evident that the top issues contributing to slow sales today are economic uncertainty, sellers who aren’t willing to lower the price, homeowners unwilling to let go of a low mortgage rate, and Buyers on the fence because they believe prices will drop drastically. In addition, active Buyers are getting fatigued. No longer do they want to see a handful of homes; they now want to see everything, and even if Buyers see it all, they have a fear of moving forward because, in the back of their minds, what if another property comes onto the market that is picture perfect for them. They will miss out on buying that one. On the bright side, Buyers have more choices, less competition, and better negotiating terms.
Even new home sales are being affected. Builders are seeing a 25 percent cancellation rate due to credit issues after the Buyer pre-qualifies. Even with interest rate buydowns, major developers in some parts of Florida report shrinking profit margins.
Sellers also need to be realistic. They should only look at the most recent closed sales in their neighborhood and not what was sold six months ago (the inventory amount was half then). Pricing a home six months ago would be very different from pricing a home today. On the bright side for Sellers is that if they purchased their home four to five years ago or later, the equity in their home most likely rose 50 to 100 percent. Hence, even if they go down in price by 5-10%, they still profit. Plus, the longer they carry home, the more money they lose paying taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. If your property is currently listed or wish to list, you need to consult with a REALTOR® to figure out a pricing strategy to sell it. You need to examine the most recent sales and go full steam ahead.
If you need any help navigating this real estate maze, please feel free to call me at 239-293-3592 or email me at robertnardi@aol.com.
Spring has sprung, and now we are heading toward the summer. Where does the time fly?