Home sales trending positive in regional market

NAPLES — Home sales in the Naples housing market are showing strong gains as the Naples Area Board of Realtors April report shows 1,158 closings for the month, an increase of 12.8% over April 2018. NABOR tracks home listings and sales in Collier County, excluding Marco Island.

"I believe we have reason to be optimistic going into the summer," says Bill Coffey, Broker Manager of Amerivest Realty Naples, in a statement. ”The report showed overall sales were up 17% in April over March, and March's sales were higher than February.”

According to the report, nearly 1,000 properties went from active to either terminated, expired or withdrawn in the Southwest Florida MLS during April, all of which impacted April's ending inventory with a decrease of 11.1% to 6,435 properties in April 2019, down from 7,239 properties in April 2018. Zorn also points out that April saw the number of new condominium listings increase by 9.2%, in contrast to a 3.2% decrease new listings of single-family homes.

Closed sales of single-family homes in April 2019 increased 4.4% percent while closed sales of condominiums increased 20.1% in April 2019 compared to April 2018, the report shows. A trend toward greater sales of lower-priced properties continued with a 4.3% increase in closed sales of condominiums in the under-$300,000 price category at 2,727 units, compared to a 0.8% decrease in same price category for single-family homes at 1,037 closed sales.

Overall, Zorn says the data indicate a positive trend. ”The uptick in showings during the last few months is a positive indicator of continued buyer interest in our area," says Zorn in the release.