IS 1 IN 3 HOMES IN NAPLES FL REALLY VACANT?
Another beautiful day in Paradise!
A recent article posted by CNN Money referred to statistics that were just released by the Census Bureau on Florida homes. Because of the article, I have gotten many emails and calls regarding the article.
“On Thursday, the Census Bureau revealed that 18% — or 1.6 million — of Florida homes are sitting vacant. That’s a rise of more than 63% over the past 10 years. Click here to read the entire article: http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/18/real_estate/florida_vacant_homes/index.htm
Now I know the reason for the emails and calls are owners who read the article had a little panic because of what they read. I get it and we’ve had negative reports on Naples and Collier County for the past 6 years. In fact, it was because of 3 negative articles on Naples that marked the sudden and steep decline in our market around July-August 2005.
One important statistic missing from the report is what has been traditionally “normal” in the way of vacant homes in Collier historically. So the number is not necessarily good or bad without the history. We have approximately 330,000 full time residents in Collier County and we have roughly 125,000-130,000 visitors who winter here with us…some own property and some rent. Just with those numbers, it could easily be considered the “norm” to have a high vacant home statistic just because of the seasonality of our community.
My take is that the overall market in Collier continues to see improvements in the number of closed sales and a further reduction of inventory. In some areas of Naples, there has been real appreciation and in many other neighborhoods, stable prices. Again, an improved market.
What an awesome time to buy a home in Naples! We are one of the most over corrected markets in the country and there are still incredible opportunities in every price range.
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