Buyers are scooping up properties on the beautiful beaches of Marco Island. They range from foreigners enjoying favorable exchange rates to baby boomers entering or nearing retirement and investors who believe Marco Island is shifting out of Buyers Market conditions.
Positive changes in the market are evident in several areas. Consider the changes in our advertising. Ads once headlined with "Price Reduced" now include the words "Pending" and "Sold" with increasing frequency. Highly desirable beachfront and best value properties continue to sell. We continue to see the promise of long term price appreciation in light of a shift from the extraordinarily high sales activity of 2004-2005 to today's more traditional market.
Luxury beachfront and waterfront properties in a beautiful paradise such as Marco Island are a commodity. The lifestyle is difficult to duplicate. While demand may fluctuate with the cyclical changes of the real estate market, this type of property will always provide a larger demand than other areas of Florida. Josh Spencer, an analyst with T. Rowe Price Group Inc., considers land in Southwest Florida irreplaceable. He has stated "If you have waterfront property in Naples, Florida, it's like having office space in midtown Manhattan."
The Marco Island market has experienced positive changes in inventory levels and closed sales. Based on an on-going 10 month-year-over-year comparison, Marco Island experienced a 3.5% decrease in the number of available listings for the second consecutive month and a 4% increase in overall closed sales. Single family homes provided the largest increase in closed sales with a 7.6% increase and condos followed with an increase of 5.5%. Lots continue to experience lagging sales activity with a decrease of 13.7%.
Why does the year over year comparison take into consideration the time period between October 1st and June 30th? For Marco Island, October 1st is the nominal starting point of the real estate season.
The largest positive change in the market is found in water indirect home sales. Sales in this highly attractive niche market increased by 43% in year over year comparisons. Buyers found newer (built after 1999) water indirect homes especially attractive. Over 45% of the water indirect homes that sold in the year over year comparison were built after 1999. A recent water indirect home sale involved a home built in 2005 with over 3100 square feet of living area. This luxury Tuscan-style home is located on an oversized tip lot that offers views down several intersecting canals and partial bay views. The home sold at the list price of $1,499,000.
Water indirect homes range in price from a low of $524,900 for a 1,588 square foot home built in 1989 to $5,250,000 for a custom estate home located on 2 water indirect lots built in 2004. This 4,500 square foot custom estate home features unique views of converging waterways and the Island Country Club golf course.
Water direct homes showed a 3.8% increase in the year over year sales comparison. Newer water direct homes (built after 1999) represented the largest market share with 37% of the water direct home sales. The most recent water direct sale happens to be the highest priced sale recorded on the Marco multiple listing service (MLS) at this time. This 6,900 square foot Tuscan-style estate home offers stunning views of Caxambas Pass. Purchased by a European buyer, it recently closed for $8,400,000. Listings for water direct homes range in price from a low of $699,000 for a 1,558 square foot home built in 1971 and located only 4 lots from the Marco River to $7,100,000 for a 4,700 square foot estate home located on Caxambas Court that was remodeled in 2004.
Inland homes experienced a 9.7% decrease in year over year sales comparisons. Newer (built after 1999) inland homes represented 30% of total sales. A recent inland sale involved a two story luxury home with almost 3,400 square feet of living area, beautiful lake views, volume ceilings, granite, stainless appliances, crown molding, loft, and more. The home sold for $725,000. Inland homes currently on the market range in price from a low of $275,000 for an "as is" 1,876 square foot residence built in 1988 on an oversized lot to $3,699,000 for a gated estate property on 3 lots with 4 buildings located in the Estates area of Marco Island.
Overall, lots continue to show sluggish sales in year over year comparisons, most recently down by 13.7%. The only category that showed a positive change was inland lots. Inland lots reported 5.6% sales growth in year over year comparisons.
Condos sales showed an overall 5.5% increase in year over year sales comparisons. A more extensive report on condos will be featured in my next article on Friday, July 20th.
As the real estate market continues to gain momentum, there will continue to be great opportunities to purchase your dream home in paradise. Those opportunities will begin to diminish as supply decreases and demand increases.
Natalie Kirstein, MBA, Realtor, works for Premier Properties of Southwest Florida, Inc., office (239) 642-2222, toll-free (800) 260-9081, e-mail NatalieK@premiermail.net. Office located in The Esplanade, 760 North Collier Blvd., Ste. 101, Marco Island.
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