July Home Sales Return to Prepandemic Levels

Naples housing market experts reviewing the July 2022 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), confirm the data reflected familiar activity levels akin to prepandemic summer months. Historically, closed sales in Naples during summer months trend around 800 sales a month. But during the last two years, summer sales were well above 1,000 closed sales a month. This July, overall closed sales decreased 43.4 percent to 662 closed sales from 1,170 closed sales in July 2021. For perspective, in July 2018 and 2019, there were 774 and 829 closed sales, respectively. The current level of activity is what market experts expected in a postpandemic summer and consider it a sign that we are on a path back to a balanced market.

July Home Sales Return to Prepandemic Levels

Additional indications in the July report that support this shift is the number of pending sales. As such, overall pending sales decreased 33.8 percent to 751 pending sales from 1,135 pending sales in July 2021. The tempering of closed and pending sales, which began in June, is producing one very welcome result: an increase in inventory. In July, inventory rose 87.6 percent to 2,429 properties from 1,295 properties in July 2021 (there were 5,200 properties in inventory during July 2019).
Starting in the fall of 2020 and continuing into this past spring, the Naples housing market experienced remarkable sales activity that was fueled by a frenzy of home buying by those seeking the ideal Naples lifestyle. However, as pandemic pandemonium diminished, broker analysts predicted a slow, gradual return to a balanced market would occur in Naples.
Market experts reviewing the July report say buyers should not expect home values to drop dramatically. While year over year price growth is trimming, demand is still high, and inventory is still not at prepandemic 2019 levels. The median closed price in July increased 16 percent to $545,000 from $469,950 in July 2021; it decreased 9.8 percent from $604,000 in June.
The NABOR® July 2022 Market Report provides comparisons of 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, including these overall (single-family and condominium) findings for 2022:
July Chart 2022
“Pre-COVID, we were averaging 90 days on market,” said Adam Vellano, a Naples Sales Manager at Compass Florida. “We are currently at 26 days on market, so while we are moving in the right direction, we still have a long path back to being balanced.”
With regard to the 905 properties that had a price reduction in July, Jones repeated his message to buyers in June that, “Price reductions should be viewed as new listings because the newly lowered price is now attractive to a larger pool of buyers. Thus, these properties represent new opportunities for home buyers.”