The following statistics compare February 2019 to 2018
Sold Single Family Homes DOWN 16% (26 vs 31)
Sold Condominiums DOWN 12.5% (28 vs 32)
Sold Single Family Vacant Lots DOWN 57% (3 vs 7 )
Pending Condominiums DOWN 3% (59 vs 61)
Pending Single Family Vacant Lots DOWN 54% (6 vs 13)
(Pending means it went under contract but has not closed yet)
Inventory:
366 Single Family Homes (UP 8% from 2018)
434 Condominiums (UP 15% from 2018)
336 Single Family Vacant Lots (UP 10% from 2018)
1,136 Total - Really Creeping up
A total of $52 Million dollars worth of real estate closed on Marco Island in the Month of February 2019. $42 Million dollars last month and $49 Million last February. Looking up at the numbers the trend continues whereby the number of sales overall is decreasing, but the dollar volume is increasing solidifying that the higher end market is where all the strength is. The other number that keeps heading up is the inventory or number of properties on the market. Now I am not saying the market in the $0 to $1,000,000 range is deceased, I am just saying it has slowed down. I also know that at X price, pretty much anything will sell; finding X can be the challenge. So when the inventory creeps up and sales slow down, Sellers are forced to make one of two decisions. Lower their price and hope to find the magic number where a buyer finds it attractive, or hang on to the property and ride out the storm. By way of example, in February (a short month mind you) there were 97 price reductions for single family homes and 4 price increases for existing homes on the market. For condos, there were 126 reductions and 1 increase, and for vacant lots, there were 47 reductions and 3 increases. What is causing this weakness? Part of my answer is subjective; I just think with the increased inventory Buyer's have less of a feeling of urgency or pressure to jump in and buy. A new topic I will bring up is the expansion in East Naples. Sure, Marco is an Island Paradise and many of you reading this would not consider calling anywhere else home, or second home, or third home. HOWEVER, there are many, many others out there that are looking at what they can get for their money in the sub $1,000,000 range, and brand new product in the East Naples corridor, when compared to Marco Island, is drawing them away. I am seeing this first hand and it is for real. On the upside, there will always be buyers that will settle for nothing less than what Marco has to offer and we will be here waiting for them.
I live in a condo and the other day we had a Barbie-Q. I received the extreme high honor of being one of the burger flippers/ hot dog rollers. Hours upon hours of preparation went into figuring out how much food to order, where to order it, when to order it, who would pick it up, how to keep it cold and many, many other fine details. When the big night came I was on the grill armed with my favorite spatula and tongs, ready for anything. Being a novice at this, I brought a cooler full of water to keep myself hydrated as I knew things would be hot and sweaty next to the grill. I noticed that my fellow grill-mates all had coolers themselves, but not one of them was carrying water on board. The invitation called for the food to start coming off the grills at 6:30ish. I was told to be at the grills at 5:00 which I thought was to give us all time to plan our preparation and serving technique. Well, at "5:00 somewhere" sharp, the first of my grill-mates opened his cooler and popped open a can of Budweiser and the pre-Barbie-Q preparations began. The second opened his cooler and opened a bottle of white wine and poured himself a big red Solo Cup full, the third opened his cooler where he had a mini bar installed and he proceeded to concoct a Tito's Vodka martini, shaken (not stirred), slightly dirty with blue cheese stuffed olives. I opened my bottle of water with a flourish as if I were uncorking a bottle of Dom Perignon; I even made a cork popping sound. My grill-mates pretty much dismissed me and promptly broke into conversation about religion, politics and who would win the NCAA basketball tournament. (ironically the basketball talk caused the most argument). After an hour or so of intense preparation, we were ready to start slinging food. Unbeknownst to me, someone took the liberty of inviting my first wife to the Barbie-Q, since her name is Barbie they thought it would be cute to have her there. My boy Willy was standing by my side as I thought this would be a good father/son bonding experience as his older brother Andy is already wise in the ways of the grill. Willy sees Barbie heading towards us and say's "uh oh, what is she doing here?" Since Barbie has hypoglycemia and needs to be fed every hour on the hour, she marched her 4 foot nothing, 88 pounds right up and pushed her way to the front of my grill. She said, "hello grill boy, I want a burger". I said "hello Princess, how would you like that cooked?", her reply, "not pink". I said, "okay, one burger well-done coming up". She replied, "I didn't say well done, I said not pink". I said, "okay, one not pink, not well-done burger coming up". She stood there giving me the old stink eye as the burger cooked; I remained focused but felt the heat and tension. I could feel a bead of sweat was building on my forehead and ever so slowly it slid down my nose, off onto her burger. Because, as usual, she was busy yacking away about yoga to anyone standing within 10,000 feet of her that would listen (whether they wanted to or not) she didn't see this. When I calculated that the burger was "no longer pink inside, but not well done" I placed it on a bun. She looked down and said, "I want cheese on it". I put a piece of cheddar on it and she said "I want the cheese melted", so I put it back on the grill". After 20 seconds I took it back off the grill and put it back on the bun and she said "I wanted Swiss cheese, not Cheddar", so I threw that one in the garbage and put Swiss cheese on another burger and once it melted I put it on a new bun and handed it to her. She walked away and 2 minutes later she weaseled her way back to the front of the line and said, "it's not done enough in the middle and it's too well done on the edges, and it needs a bit more salt". I smiled, put a fresh burger on the grill, and being that I was much hotter now, I seasoned this one up just right.
Now most of my 7.6 faithful readers know Barbie and they also want to know what does her burger eating ways have to do with Real Estate and I will now tell you. Think of property in terms of a Barbie-Q where you make your first choice as to whether you want a burger (a house) or hotdog (a condo) or a veggie patty (vacant lot). Once you make that first big choice you can add ketchup (waterfront), pickle chips (one for each bedroom or bath), lettuce (wilty for older or crisp for newer), relish (furnished or unfurnished) and so on. (feel free to make up whatever similes/metaphors you like, it's fun). Sometimes you may like 80% of what a property has to offer, but you may not like the paint color or the outdated kitchens or baths or such. That is when you need to think of Barbie's burger and remember that if you start out with a good foundation that you like, you can always add some sweat equity and turn that property into exactly what you want. Bon appetite!
The 7.6 faithful also want to know the high and low sales for the month and here they are:
The highs for the month are... a Single-Family Home for $5,000,000 at 870 Eubanks. For Condos, Veracruz 2203 closed for $2,500,000 (sold by your writer). For Vacant Lots, 375 Wild Coffee Lane in Hideaway closed for $180,000.
For you bargain hunters out there, a 3 bed/2 bath Single Family Home at 372 Hazlecrest closed for $325,000. In Condos, we have an efficiency in the Aquarius that went for $107,500 and a Vacant Lot at 101 Bald Eagle Dr. closed for $85,000. Prices do appear to be bottoming out and now is a great time to explore what is out there.
As always, please reach out and contact me if you have any real estate questions.
And, if you are thinking of using me as your Realtor, keep in mind that I will never be out thought or out fought.
My current wife and I await and welcome your dinner invitations.
Gerry Rosenblum
Broker Associate
B
