By Jeff Jaarda, for BayWatch News
This article appeared in the December, 2013 issue of BayWatch News
A new season upon us, things are once again exciting and promising with real estate here in Bonita Bay. As is always the case we real estate brokers are eyeing economic trends and keeping tabs of the sales activity in Bonita Bay and competing communities in town and beyond.
By many counts Florida as a whole has seen upticks in Closed Sales, Pending Sales and ultimately Median Sales Prices in various sectors and price points in recent quarters. Our Southwest Florida market certainly reflects this.
As for Bonita Bay specifically, per local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data, there have been 239 Closed Sales year-to-date, representing a 14% increase over the same period during the previous year. Pending Sales are down slightly, but perhaps this can be explained by this being a slower time of year for sales, or more so by a decreased housing inventory in Bonita Bay – at this moment there are only 130 properties on the market as opposed to 187 at the same point in 2012. With this increased activity properties are selling more quickly with an average 161 Days on Market in 2013 versus 197 Days on Market for closed sales during the same period in 2012.
So what does this mean for prices? The Average selling price in Bonita Bay in 2013 is $735,000, up from $645,000 during the same period in 2012. Median selling price is also up to $560,000 in 2013 from $415,000 in 2012. But does any particular property have a market value greater than that the year before?
The numbers suggest that this may be the case. In a recent interview prominent Naples & Bonita Springs appraiser Cindy Carroll describes that prices are back to those from late 2004 to early 2006 depending on the neighborhood, but cautions that “where we go from here is anybody’s guess.”
Well we sure don’t like to guess. So here’s to another season of promoting the beautiful Bonita Bay community, homes, facilities and more. We’ll work hard to make sure homebuyers know that Bonita Bay is the place to be in Southwest Florida.