January sales of houses and condos in the Naples area fell to 588, down 6 percent from last year’s level.
The Naples Area Board of Realtors also reported that the area’s inventory of houses and condos listed for sale fell rose to 8,154 in January, a 7 percent increase from the same month last year.
Houses and condos sold in January were on the market for an average of 97 days, unchanged from January 2018.
“The big news in January was inventory,” Jeff Jones, president and managing broker of the Naples and Bonita Springs offices of Engel & Völkers, said in a prepared statement. “We expect the inventory of homes for sale to increase, giving buyers more homes to buy, but not so many that they will negatively affect overall home prices.”
The median house-sale price in January increased year over year by 1 percent to $325,000 while the median condo-sale price increased 3 percent to $260,000.
The number of house sales in the Naples area rose to 314 in January from 295 in the same month last year, a 6 percent increase.
Condo sales, however, fell to 274 in January from 330 in January 2018, a 20 percent plunge. “Fee-heavy condominiums are hurting,” Adam Vellano, west coast sales manager of BEX Realty-Florida said in prepared remarks. – Mike Seemuth