January condo sales surged in Naples amid flat sales of houses

January sales of condos in surged 23 percent in Naples from last year’s level, and the number of house sales was nearly unchanged, the Naples Area Board of Realtors reported.

The number of condo sales in January rose to 391 from 319 last year.

The median price of condos sold in January increased 21 percent to $320,000 from $265,000 last year.

Realtors data also show that January house sales in Naples declined 1 percent to 280 from 284 last year, while the median sale price increased 8 percent to $430,000 in January from $397,000 in the same month last year.

Naples houses listed for sale declined by 8 percent to 2,961 in January 3,219 in the same month last year.

Naples’ inventory of condos listed for sale in January fell 2 percent to 3,110 from 3,174 last year.

The combined number of pending sales of houses and condos in January increased 11 percent to 1,030 from 924 last year.

Houses and condos sold in January were listed for sale for an average of 91 days prior to closing, unchanged from January 2017.

“I think we had a lot of pent up demand from wealthy buyers who waited to see how the new tax laws would affect them,” Jeff Jones, managing broker of the Engel & Völkers offices in Naples and Bonita Springs, said in a prepared statement. – Mike Seemuth