Naples real estate firm tops $1 billion in sales in first months of 2023

John R. Wood Properties is off to a hot start with 993 transactions, including a $46.8 million-dollar sale, in first quarter of the year.

By Louis Llovio
| 5:30 p.m. April 18, 2023
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

Naples home in the Port Royal neighborhood sold for $46.8 million, one of the largest single-family home sales in the county's history.

Charlotte–Lee–Collier

John R. Wood Christie’s International Real Estate announced Tuesday it had closed sales totaling $1.2 billion from January through March and that it completed 993 transactions in that time.

The firm says that the Southwest Florida Multiple Listing Service shows its total sales in the first quarter of the year were about $406 million higher than its nearest competitor. That competitor, according to a spokesperson, is Premier Sotheby's International Realty.

Among the deals completed this year is the $46.8 million sale of a house at 1672 Galleon Drive in Naples’ Port Royal neighborhood. That sale, John R. Wood Properties says is the most expensive home sold this year in Collier County as of March 16, the sixth most expensive residential sale ever in the county and the most expensive non-beachfront residential sale ever.

John R. Wood attributes the results to rankings in the MLS.

But those records may not stand for long.

Among houses currently on the market is a nearly $175 million home also in Port Royal. That 8.53-acre beachfront property with an 8,8846-square-foot home is adjacent to two other properties on Gordon Drive, each on the market for about $60 million.

Phil Wood, president and CEO of Phil Wood, the firm’s president and CEO, is ranked No. 134 in the 2023 Swanepoel Power 200, is ranked No. 134 in the 2023 Swanepoel Power 200. — Phil Wood, president and CEO

Those are being listed by Gulf Coast International Properties which, on its website, has at least one other Naples homes nearing the $100 million mark — a 4,822-square-foot house at 20 14th Ave. S. for $99 million.

John R. Wood Christie’s International Real Estate was founded in 1958 and it is consistently the No. 1 firm in market share in the market that includes Collier and Lee counties. The firm has 23 offices in Southwest Florida and employs 750, including agents and staff.

Earlier this month it was ranked No. 22 among independent companies in the 2023 RealTrends 500 Brokerage Rankings after posting sales of $4.5 billion on 5,001 transactions in 2022. It affiliated with Christie’s in 2022.

Phil Wood, the firm’s president and CEO, is ranked No. 134 in the 2023 Swanepoel Power 200. Swanepoel is an annual ranking of the top residential real estate brokerage executives in the country.

Wood joined the firm as agent in 1977 and, according to his profile in the rankings, took over as president and CEO in 1986. He is the son of the firm’s founder and namesake, who died in 2021.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the difference in sales between the firm and its nearest competitor.

author

Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.