BayWatch Magazine – Property Values | December 2022
Welcome back to a different, yet recovering, Bonita Bay. This “Property Values” space finds that the motivations of property owners and seekers and the real estate market conditions are different than in recent issues of Bay Watch News. Inventory was already limited, migration to Florida was and remains substantial, and now this hurricane is part of the equation.
Bonita Bay and Southwest Florida have endured major hurricanes before. Prior hurricanes were wind and rain events, but Hurricane Ian brought these plus a dreaded storm surge. It’s a new aspect for the real estate market to absorb.
The last few years the market has certainly been a seller’s market. Is that the case today? It depends. We know real estate is local, and even then it varies between different properties and price points within any community. On a macro level for Southwest Florida, there are examples of prices nudging downward due to interest rates rising and borrowers’ resulting budgeting changes. Yet some displaced property owners from the beaches are already purchasing replacement properties inland as it will take years for their coastal properties to be habitable again. And some of these displaced folks have already purchased in Bonita Bay.
Most Bonita Bay transactions are cash transactions and are thus far less impacted by the interest rate environment. And the properties keep moving. Today there are 15 resale properties for sale in Bonita Bay. At this time last year there were 26, and this time in 2020 there were 96. Property here is as scarce as ever.
So is it a buyer’s market or a seller’s market in Bonita Bay? Perhaps it is both, depending on the situation and depending on the transaction. Any individual’s or family’s housing and lifestyle needs are more unique and individual as ever. Some current owners will want to restore their property, some will not have the appetite to do so. Some buyers might shy away from purchasing a place that needs work, but some transactions are already taking place where buyers see a rebuild as an opportunity.
We can help one another navigate these times. More than ever folks can work to find a meeting of the minds and arrive at a mutually beneficial real estate transaction. Perhaps one transaction at a time this real estate activity can contribute to restoring Bonita Bay and Southwest Florida.