BayWatch Magazine – Property Values | November 28, 2020
It seems like the last time we had the joy of reading an issue of Bay Watch magazine, toilet tissue supply was plentiful, it was understood The Masters Tournament takes place in April, and we could come and go visiting friends, enjoying in-restaurant dining and more. But since then so much has clearly changed. 2020 has been crazy, Covid-19 being the primary culprit. (Oh yes, we did have an election too.) But the virus shut down our lives and the recreational “season” and it certainly shut down the real estate “season” too….but only briefly.
Yes our activity and our markets became paralyzed. Real estate activity came to a halt. Our equities markets dove, the DJIA fell to roughly 18,000 and the S&P 500 to 2200. But then some things started happening. It is well documented that people have been compelled to vacate the cities up north, and while folks typically forget about Florida in the summer, they reversed course and came back. Business Insider documents that of all cities in the US with the highest net migration, half of those cities are in Florida. And Southwest Florida is well represented amongst those cities, with the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton and the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan areas ranking in the top six.
It shows in the real estate statistics. From the Fort Myers to Marco Island Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data, year-to-date pending sales in the region are up 18% over the same period in 2019. As of this writing, this week alone saw pending sales up 52% over the same week in 2019! Closed sales are up 7% year-to-date. And inventory is low, down 5% year-to-date over 2019.
Specifically, Bonita Bay buyers have been active in 2020. According to MLS data, for the six months April through September 2020, there were 83 pending sales in Bonita Bay, compared to 62 pending sales during the same period in 2019. As a result, Bonita Bay inventory is down. At this moment over the same week in 2019 there are 76 resale properties for sale in Bonita Bay, at this point in 2019 there were 96. And Seaglass and Omega continue to sell – as of this writing Seaglass has eight new construction units remaining compared to 27 being available at this time last year, and Omega has now broken ground with 31 of 67 units under contract.
With the dawn of any “season” in Bonita Bay, a real estate season takes on a unique life of its own. Sometimes it seems buyers take some time to settle in, become reacquainted with friends, entertain family and guests over the holidays, enjoy the trappings of our community and area, and then maybe they get around to pondering a next move and purchase in real estate. But in the fall of 2020, more buyers have hit the ground running. The 2020-2021 season could truly bring about a fascinating and highly active real estate market.