As Seen in the Naples Daily News and Bonita Daily News

This week I thought I’d share with you the most recent Naples-Collier County trends for residential property sales. From these statistics, you’ll see that the overall trend over the last two years has been one of increased sales and closings. Specifically, from 2008 to 2009, we saw a 49% increase in overall homes closed.  And homes sold under $500,000 increased by an astounding 73% in 2009, compared to the year before. Due to the economy, homes over $1,000,000 that sold during that same period decreased in closings by 18%.

And in 2010, the numbers continue to grow. This January, compared to January of 2009, the number of homes over $1,000,000 that closed increased by 45%.  Homes from $500,000 to $1 million increased by 46% in number of closings.  And the amount of homes that sold for less than $500,000 increased by 41%.

Here are the straight summary statistics. Please note that this data reflects sales involving Realtors and posted through the Sunshine MLS multiple listing service (in other words, private sales aren’t included).

In 2008:

4,764 total homes sold.  Of the total homes:  3,433 sold less than $500,000.  740 sold less than $1 million but more than $500,000.  591 sold at $1 million or more.

In 2009:

7,101 total homes sold.  Of the total homes:  5,928 sold less than $500,000.  691 sold less than $1 million but more than $500,000.  482 sold at $1 million or more.

In January of 2008

279 total homes sold.  Of the total homes:  167 sold less than $500,000.  59 sold less than $1 million but more than $500,000.  53 sold at $1 million or more.

In January of 2009

353 total homes sold.  Of the total homes:  287 sold less than $500,000.  37 sold less than $1 million but more than $500,000.  29 sold at $1 million or more.

In January of 2010

502 total homes sold.  Of the total homes:  406 sold less than $500,000.  54 sold less than $1 million but more than $500,000.  42 sold at $1 million or more.

It’s promising to see that buyers, from the low to high end, are seizing these opportunities and buying their own piece of paradise.  This continues to make our market grow stronger by shrinking current inventories.  Like I’ve mentioned before in this column, knowing these market trends are an essential piece of research before you buy or sell. Please email me if you’d like to know the trends on a specific community in SW Florida.