Re: OT--Ping: To all who keep warning me of a housing bust in Naples

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Naples-Marco market No. 1 for home price appreaciation
By GINA EDWARDS

September 18, 2005

Handicapping a real estate bubble has become a national obsession, if not a
national pastime.

And the Southwest Florida market is still grabbing the national spotlight.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight says the Naples-Marco
Island metro area is No. 1 in the nation for home price appreciation for the
second quarter ending June 30, compared with the same time last year.

Single-family homes appreciated 35.6 percent during that time.

The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area ranks No. 9 in the country at 29.84
percent appreciation. Punta Gorda in Charlotte County ranks No. 12 on the
list with homes appreciating 29.39 percent during the year.

"We're not seeing any evidence whatsoever of prices topping out," said
Andrew Leventis, an economist for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight.

Nationwide, homes appreciated 13.4 percent on average, according to the
federal index. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Mansfield, Ohio, and
Lafayette, Ind., had the lowest appreciation for the second quarter in the
nation, both coming in at less than 1 percent.

Overall, income levels and low interest rates are fueling home prices on a
macro level, Leventis said. In Florida - and Naples in particular - demand
from buyers appears strong.

"We hear of demand being high for second homes there," Leventis said.

Local agents say brisk sales in the luxury market appear to be boosting the
area's median sales price, even as some sales in the lower end of the market
have slowed.

"The number of transactions on the high end has increased," said Joe
Ballerino, owner of Amerivest Realty.

Ballerino said the lower end of the Naples market - which he describes as
properties at less than $750,000 - appears to be leveling off somewhat.

The Florida Association of Realtors reported Naples' median single-family
home price for July at $490,400, up 31 percent compared with July 2004.

Closings in Collier County in August were up 24 percent compared with the
same time last year, according to MLS data compiled by Amerivest Realty of
Naples.

Year to date, closings were 6,613 from January to August, compared with
6,494 for the same time last year.

Another national group, the National Association of Realtors, reported in
August that the Fort Myers-Cape Coral Metropolitan Statistical Area ranked
second in the nation for median home price appreciation for the second
quarter, with the median price up 45.2 percent from the same time a year ago
to $266,800.

NAR doesn't include the Naples area in its ranking.








"NOYB" <noyb@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aGhXe.188$vw6.173@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Deep-pocketed buyers steering Naples market clear of bust talk
> By GINA EDWARDS
> September 18, 2005
>
> When home prices hit the outer stratosphere, the number of potential
> buyers admittedly shrinks. But the Naples luxury market is still in boom
> mode, local agents say, despite forecasts of a housing bubble that some
> predict eventually must burst.
>
> A slowdown?
>
> "I just don't see it," said Bill Earls, an agent for John R. Wood, who
> specializes in ultra-high-end homes.
>
> Earls had a $20 million month in July and said, "I think I've topped that
> out in August."
>
> The $24.8 million Gordon Drive estate of billionaire Campbell Soup heiress
> Dorrance H. Hamilton flew off the market in less than a week when it was
> listed in May. That sent tongues wagging in real estate circles.
>
> The 7,000-square-foot beachfront house at 4444 Gordon Drive and its quick
> sale grabbed national headlines for John R. Wood Inc. listing agents Merry
> Coolidge and Bruce Bab*** following the home's closing in July. Barbara
> Chur, whose husband made his fortune in nursing homes, bought the estate,
> which includes a separate guest house and Naples Bay frontage across
> Gordon Drive.
>
> The sale price wasn't a record for Naples, but the speed of the sale very
> well may have been.
>
> Agents say they had buyers lining up.
>
> "I had someone right behind them," says Prudential Florida WCI agent
> Jackie May, who specializes in Port Royal.
>
> The multiple listing service shows just more than 450 homes and lots on
> the market now priced at $2 million or more. Of those, close to 100 are
> priced at $5 million and more.
>
> Collier County Property Appraiser records show that more than 1,400
> properties sold for more than $1 million from January through August.
>
> Surprisingly, local agents say there was no summer slowdown in the
> high-end market. But, although the luxury market is active, price
> appreciation appears to be slowing somewhat, agents say.
>
> Emily K. Bua, of Premier Properties, said she's not seeing as much
> appreciation in the $4 million to $10 million market as in the past. Bua
> said she doesn't see prices dropping, either.
>
> "There's tremendous appreciation in the under $2 million market," Bua
> said.
>
> Land values, as always, are dictating prices. Homes built in the '80s or
> '90s in Port Royal and Old Naples are mostly considered tear-downs now.
>
> "If they're not brand new, the houses are free," May said. "The ground has
> just appreciated so much."
>
> And the ground is especially rich if it's sand.
>
> Agents say prices for beachfront lots are fetching between $70,000 and
> $80,000 per foot of beachfront - thus adding between $10 million and $12
> million for typical 150-foot-wide lots on Gordon Drive.
>
> Tearing down and building new gives buyers bigger homes, higher ceilings,
> and what Earls calls "the new sexy appliances."
>
> But what buyers want most is a beautiful view, agents say.
>
> "The bigger the view, the more it is," May said.
>
> Many high-end buyers are already here and they want more house or more
> water, May said. Some retired executives think they'll only spend a little
> time in Naples, but they end up staying here a lot, she said.
>
> Fundamentally, agents say demand from high net worth clients is strong.
>
> More and more newcomers are discovering the market, local agents say. They
> are top flight executives and increasingly they're hailing from the
> Northeast and out West - a departure from the traditional Midwestern
> crowd. Europeans, particularly from Germany and England, are coming in
> greater numbers, too.
>
> "There are a lot of people just discovering Naples," Bua said.
>
> Naples has had positive national press of late and its charity wine
> auction, the Naples Winter Wine Festival, attracts big spenders from all
> over the world.
>
> "I think the wine festival has brought a lot of attention to the Naples
> market," Bua said.
>
> What's most encouraging to Earls is this: "I'm seeing a good, healthy
> influx of new people," he said. "I think our market has broadened."
>
> Although the market appears flush with mega-mansions for sale, Earls said
> homes are turning over and sales are brisk.
>
> "I have 30 listings after selling $200 million (this year)," Earls said.
>
> Overall, he said, he's up 10 percent more than last year.
>
> One thing that gives Bua confidence in the health of the luxury market is
> it's not as prone to profiteering.
>
> "The market over $4 million or $5 million is end-users," Bua said. "The
> market under $2 million has a lot of investors in it."
>
> Agents typically define the luxury market in Naples as homes and condos
> valued at $4 million and more. There's a big range in between though. May
> estimates Port Royal's largest estate could be worth as much as $100
> million.
>
> For now, Coolidge and Bab*** - who sold the $24.8 million estate in less
> than a week - have bragging rights on speed of a mega-sale.
>
> The four-bedroom, 4½ bath estate home built by Newbury North Associates
> and designed by architect Jerry DeGennaro features dark wood paneling with
> tropical decor and such luxuries as an exercise and massage room off the
> master suite. Across Gordon Drive, a four-bedroom guest house and
> caretaker house front Naples Bay.
>
> "We had appointments one on top of the other," Coolidge said. "We were
> hardly even ready to show it to the market place."
>
> The top price for a home and property - $30 million paid in April 2001 for
> a beachfront and bay lot combination - still holds.
>
> High-end agents seem to be scrambling for the next record luxury sale. It
> could be a cell phone call away.
>
>
>
> http://naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_4089510,00.html
>
>
>


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