In this January‑recorded video, Renee Hahn of William Ravis Real Estate presents the December 2023 Naples Area Board of Realtors (NABOR) market report, explaining that the data is a month behind due to verification processes. She introduces her monthly "Tide Talk" newsletter, which highlights new local businesses and community content. Hahn then walks through the key market metrics: new listings rose 12% YoY to 892 but fell 24% MoM; total inventory increased 46% YoY to 3,949 homes; pending sales dropped 15% YoY to 583 contracts; closed sales fell 16% YoY to 551 but rose 2.6% MoM; median days on market held at 59, a 20% decrease YoY; and median closed price climbed to $631,000, up 10% YoY and 9% MoM. She emphasizes that market behavior varies sharply by neighborhood and price tier, noting especially high inventory in luxury areas such as Old Naples, Royal Harbor, and Naples Park. Renovation activity is constrained by higher costs and insurance issues, making move‑in‑ready homes sell faster. Hahn advises sellers to price realistically, maintain good condition, and present well, warning that buyer leverage is increasing. For buyers, she suggests taking advantage of the current inventory and negotiating power before potential rate‑driven competition returns. She also references broader influences: a pre‑election slowdown, strong tourism demand, and insurance challenges with older roofs. Throughout, she encourages viewers to contact her for personalized guidance and promotes the community‑focused content of Tide Talk.
Chapters
Hello and good morning. This is Renee Han with William Ravis Real Estate bringing you the monthly market update. Just a quick disclaimer, this data is always a month in arrears, so we're looking at data that is for December 2023. So we're going to be talking about how the year rounded out. This is because NABOR, Naples Area Board of Realtors, likes to make sure all the data has been scrubbed, updated, added to the system, and is official. So that's why we're reporting it at the end of January. I can't believe I just said it's already the end of January, but it is. So I am pleased to share with you the year-end December 2023 Naples real estate market update. What you are looking at on the screen is a copy of Tide Talk. It is my monthly newsletter magazine where I embed this market update as a part of it, but I wanted to start here because there is so much helpful information in this Tide Talk, and I hope that you will take the time each month to look through it. Couple of things that I really love, um, if you go to— there are business spotlights. So I watch all year long to see what new businesses are coming to the area, and when they've opened up and are available for your entertainment and enjoyment, I will post them here. So we've got a few pages full. It has been a busy market of new businesses coming into the area, which is always exciting because I think Naples is already so vibrant and robust. Um, but there's several pages in here that talk about the newest, uh, business up, uh, openings. And I try to stay focused more on things that you might be most interested in. So you're going to see a lot of it is dining, entertainment, that kind of thing. Then we've got the monthly market update, and this is where this video will go after it's recorded. But I've got some stats here for you too. I usually will have some, um, articles in here that are of interest, and I do have an opportunity for those wishing to share what you love about about the area, an opportunity for you to be entered into a drawing to win. So be sure to check that out. Uh, again, that's Tide Talk. That's what you'll see in the email and where this video is embedded. As always, if you have any questions, want to talk about anything in particular, whether it's your home, your community, we can always do that because, as you know, in the Naples area, the market is very segmented. So I always, for the purposes of reaching a wide audience and being relevant, stay very high level and, and share what the statistics are that Naples Area Board of Realtors releases. So they're market-wide in the area, but I can tell you that things behave very differently by type of home, by area, by neighborhood, by price point. Um, and so you can hear these overall statistics and they may be less relevant to what you might be experiencing in your individual neighborhood. So it's important to know that. Um, when you look at the market, availability and demand are always key to look at when assessing the market when it comes to real estate. In the best case, these two are in balance and they create a healthy market for both buyers and sellers. 2023 has been, um, was a little off-kilter in that, and I'll tell you what I mean, but it didn't erode things. So we still went out of the end of the year with a relatively healthy market. So the number of new listings hitting the market during the month of December did go up 12% year over year with 892 new homes coming on the market. This was, however, a 24% decrease month over month from where it was in November, which was 1,174 new listings during the month of November. This gradual pace in new listings did help maintain a steady inventory level and prevented a shift to a predominantly buyer's market at the end of the year, which is good. Rounding out the end of the year, inventory was however reported 46% increase year over year and 4.1%, uh, increase respectively month over month. So we ended out December with 3,949 homes on the market, um, and again, if the number of listings coming in was high and inventory was high, that says a good thing for, for buyers because you have more properties to choose from. If you look at pending sales, um, and that's a reflection of demand, that was down 15% year over year and down 12% month over month. So 583 homes went under contract during the month of December. So inventory's up, demand is down, at least pending sales. Let's take a look at what closed sales did. If you take in the existing pending contracts, things that were already under contract, to see what closed during the month of December, there were a total of 551 closed which was a 16% decrease year over year, but it was a 2.6% increase month over month from the prior, uh, month of, of November. So there were 13 more closed sales in December than there were in November. So again, uh, demand arguably down if you look at both pending sales being down, closed sales being down, new listings went up, and inventory went up. Days on market did stay consistent, however, at 59 days, but that was still a 20% decrease over the same time last year. Keep in mind, last year being— now we're talking 2022 at the time— um, was a phenomenal year. You— it— we all enjoyed it. It's gone, it's done. Um, so 59 days on market may have been a 20% increase in days on market, but think about your relative comparator, if you will. Despite the increase in inventory and decrease in pending and closed sales, the median closed price did hold firm. So came in at $631,000 for the month of December, which was 10% increase year over year and 9% month over month. Now remember, that can be a reflection of both appreciation, but it can also be the blend, the mix of the home. So I always use that as an interesting data point, but I don't get too wrapped around it to determine what value really is. So while these durations of time on market might have been longer in recent years, keep in mind they're still short in historical context when you compare it to the years of, say, 2017 to 2018, where it was 89 days on market. 59 days, not so bad. Now again, Keep in mind, this is the, um, median, or I believe it's the median days on market. So there are plenty that are higher and there are some that are lower. The reality is what I found in this market working with both buyers and sellers, the appetite for undertaking renovations is not as robust as it has been in the past. So with more choices and Buyers recognizing that getting a hold and securing the services to do renovations may be a little constrained right now because of all of the increase in demand and renovations, in part due to, um, the hurricane. There, the prices have gotten more expensive in renovations. The ability to get them done quickly has gotten a little, uh, tougher. So because of that, the homes that you're seeing sell faster tend to be homes that have already had the work done and are done in a way that appeals mostly to the buyers based on it being current and attractive finishes. So keep that in mind that when you look at these medians, the things that are selling quicker tend to be things that are renovated. They might be in communities that don't have a lot of inventory. So if you've got a home that needs a little bit more work, you may not enjoy those same kind of results in terms of how quickly things can sell. Despite lower days on market, sellers are advised to remember that there are a lot of increased options available to buyers. And I don't want to fast forward too much into the present because this is about December 2023, but I will tell you when we come back together to talk about January, you're going to see the, the pace at which new listings came on the market was really high. And buyer traffic to date has been, I think, relatively slow compared to what I've seen, candidly, over the last decade. So we're talking about December, but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that as you're thinking about listing your homes, sellers, you've got to be really conscientious about price, about condition, about presentation, because, um, I think we're going to see the scales tip in favor of, of the buyers. So again, I don't want to go long on that. We don't have the data to support that. It's anecdotal at this point, but I can tell you I have lots of listings across lots of different price points, and, and we're definitely seeing that shift. So keep that in mind. Buyers, on the other hand, we encourage you— there's an availability of listings. This is a good time to buy. There may be people sitting out there saying, well, gosh, I'll wait till mortgage rates come down. Well, guess what? You don't— if you don't think there's going to be an increase in competition for properties when interest rates come down, I think you're going to be surprised. So if you've got the right mix of homes to choose from, um, you may find that now is still a really good time to buy. You may have a little bit of what I'll call leverage. That sounds like a nasty word, but sellers are more inclined to be able to negotiate on things. The market is not caving in, so don't expect you're going to get steals of a deal, but you may get a great deal on a property compared to what you would have a year ago, 2 years ago, maybe even 3 years ago. So keep that in mind. Um, so again, we encourage buyers to really think long and hard about, um, in entertaining, um, home shopping right now because of the availability. And sellers, you've got to remain, um, with your, your finger on the pulse of what's going on in the marketplace. I know nobody wants to look at numbers that aren't as high as what you had hoped for or what you even saw your neighbors do in the past couple years, but the reality is if you overprice a home, you're going to sit. You may not have many showings, or if you have showings, you may just not convert many of those into interested offers and parties. So keep those things in mind. Again, we remain optimistic about 2024 ahead of us. We are in the year before an election, so keep in mind, if you look historically, there's always a little bit of a taper in real estate activity the year before an election. We've obviously still got some economic headwinds, no question about that, but the good news is, is Naples still continues to be a sought-after area. If you look at tourism. Um, I think they reported in the month of December record rates for the area. So people are coming here, they're visiting, they love the weather, they like the area, the safety, the cleanliness. It is still paradise without question. So that's a little bit about the marketplace. Again, if you're interested in talking more, don't ever hesitate to pick up the phone. Uh, I remain optimistic about the future. We've got a slow start to the season without question, particularly, by the way, in the luxury price point. If you look at places like Old Naples, they've got more than a year of inventory. I think they're up to almost 2 years, pretty close. Places like Connors, um, uh, Royal Harbor, the boating communities have a huge amount of inventory compared to prior years. Naples Park is off the charts in terms of the inventory available. So if you're in these places that have a lot of competition, you need to be aware of that when you're setting your pricing. Or if If you don't like the pricing, make a decision about whether now's the right time to sell or not. Um, the challenge is you never know what the future holds. We only know what we know now, and there will be properties that sell, but you've got to make sure you're not overpricing things and that you're taking the time to prepare the property and make it look its best possible way. We still also keep in mind, have the headwind— older roofs are getting turned down by insurance companies of being insurable. So if a buyer becomes interested in your property but they know that upon closing they're not going to insure the property, that is a challenge to selling the property. So keep all of these things in mind. I hope you all have a wonderful end to your January and a fabulous start to your February. I'm here if you ever need me. Um, I go to sleep thinking about real estate, I wake up thinking about real estate, and I'm committed to helping my buyers and sellers reach their goals. Thanks and have a fabulous rest of your day.
