Naples - slow market - prices mostly up

The first 15 days of March 2006, for the Naples real estate market, transactions for both single family homes and condominiums continues to lag behind the same period of 2005, while the median prices of single family homes continues with upward movement. The median prices of condominiums for closed sales shows an increase over 2005, while the pending sales is showing a slight downward trend.

Closed sales represents those real estate transactions where the property has transferred title. In the case of closed sales the negotiation and agreement of the sales price for real estate took place generally 6 to 8 weeks prior to the actual closing. They in fact represent a current historical view of the real estate market.

Pending sales on the other hand are real estate transactions, where the seller and buyer have negotiated and agreed upon a price. The actual agreed upon price is not known until shortly after closing. Pending sales can reveal a pricing trend, but not the true trend because the actual sales price could be the same, less than or more than the list price of the property at the time the contract was negotiated.

During the first 15 days of March 2006, 127 single family homes sold with a median price of $530,000. In 2005, 214 homes sold with a median price of $427,500. The drop in sales transactions is about 41%, while the median price paid increased about 24%.

The condominium market for the same period of time shows 94 units sold with a median price of $415,000. The same period in 2005, 216 units sold with a median price of $340,750. Transaction activity dropped about 56%, while the median price paid increased approximately 22%.

Looking at pending sales, single family homes in the first 15 days of March shows 152 homes with a median price of $549,000. Compared to 2005, where 229 homes with a median price $479,900 went under contract (pended sale). Transactions are down about 34%, while median price are continuing an upward trend or an increase of about 14%.

In condominium sector, in the first 15 days of March, 98 units went under contract with a median price of $375,500. In 2005, there were 239 units pended at a median price of $389,000. The reduction in median price (3.5%) is not significant enough to say there "the real estate bubble has burst". Transactions in this segment of the market is down about 59% from last year.

The first half of March is showing an increase in activity for both closed sales and pending sales over the January/February time-frame, while prices in the single home segment are increasing and the condominium segment remaining stable.

Both single family homes and condominiums on the resale market are plentiful, giving potential buyers an excellent selection properties. Buyers should be constantly aware of pricing trends along with the interest rates projections.

Sellers with their properties priced according to the market should realize optimum price.

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HSH Associates' Weekly Market Trends

HSH Associates' Weekly Market Trends - March 17, 2006: "Mortgage rates were blown backward by cooler gentler breezes this week, but those winds are uncertain things. The ten-year Treasury yield, a fair proxy for fixed rate mortgages, rose almost to 4.8% this week at one point but settled back to the mid-4.6% range. Mortgage rates settled, too, but have little room to fall significantly with a 4.5% (soon to be 4.75%) Fed Funds rate. A lighter economic calendar awaits us next week. Among the notables coming due are the Producer Price Index, New and Existing Home Sales, orders for Durable Goods and the index of Leading Economic Indicators."

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February Real Estate Statistics

The statistics presented here represent a comparision of real estate activity that has taken place through the Naples MLS for the month of February and calendar year-to-date for 2006 and 2005:

Closed sales:	Feb '06	Feb '05
Single family homes	206	372
Condos	181	348
Closed sales:	YTD '06	YTD '05
Single family homes	440	695
Condos	427	708

Pending sales:	Feb '06	Feb '05
Single family homes	230	634
Condos	198	680
Pending sales:	YTD '06	YTD '05
Single family homes	439	1,113
Condos	391	1,219

Real estate activity is down from last year - closings in total down about 32% on a year to date basis, while pending sales are down about 36% also on a year to date basis.

The pending sales show a slight upward trend from January pending sales. This is a good sign, that real estate transactions are starting to pick up.

Another key indicator of the market is to look at median prices of both closed sales and pending sales to get a further idea of where property values are going. This analysis will be presented in another posting.

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Real Estate Blogs

Assembled here are real estate blogs from various cities and towns around the United States. You may wish to visit the blog to read about the market conditions or events taking places other than in the Naples real estate area.

Views on the Las Vegas real estate market and random thoughts from a guy in Las Vegas. Yeah its hot, but its a dry heat! With all of the new luxury high rise condos going up, soon its going to look like Miami instead.

We feature real estate news from the entire state of Arizona, special emphasis will be placed on Central Arizona and the cities we specialize in selling homes in: Carefree, Cave Creek, Central Corridor, Fountain Hills, North Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Pinnacle Peak, Rio Verde Foothills and Scottsdale Arizona. - Arizona Real Estate News

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Lee County - Ranks 10th in Nation for population growth

Last week the US Census bureau release the estimated growth in population comparing July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2004. The estimated population growth in Lee County was 29,835 or about 5.8%, to place it number 10. This shows the continued demand for residential real estate in the Bonita Springs, Estero and south Ft Myers areas.

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Collier County (Naples area) Population Grows

Recently the US Census released estimated population figures comparing July 1, 2005 to July 1, 2004, showing that Collier County is ranked 56 of all US counties in estimated population increase. Estimated July 1, 2005 population is 307,242 versus 296,675 for July 1, 2004. This results in an increase of 10,567 new residents to Collier County. Roughly it is an increase of 3.6%. Naples and Collier County still remain one of the more popular places for people to relocate to, second homes or retire.

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Housing starts down in February

U.S. housing starts: -7.9% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.12 million units.

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Interest rates down :)

30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 6.34%, down from 6.37% the previous week.

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Demographics

Flagler County was the fastest-growing county in the nation for the second year in a row with a 10.7 percent population increase from July 1, 2004, to July 1, 2005, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Florida has 14 of the 100 fastest-growing counties from 2004 to 2005, according to the estimates, even though four hurricanes struck the state in 2004. More...

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Safety Alert

Police are looking for a man who attacked and robbed a St. Petersburg Realtor® on March 3 while she was in the process of showing him houses. The suspect posed as an interested homebuyer and spent several hours viewing potential homes with Realtor Julie Roberts before he struck her in the head with a gun and threatened to kill her. He tied her hands behind her back with plastic cable ties before going to her car to get her purse and ATM cards. The suspect is described as a white male, about 26 years old, with short black hair and brown eyes, about 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighing around 150 pounds. He was wearing a black jacket and black dress pants, and driving a new model four-door sedan, either silver or champagne in color. Anyone with info about the suspect should call the St. Petersburg police at 727-893-7780.

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