COLLIER COUNTY, FL –
Sky high predictions are out for the Southwest Florida real estate market.
A national survey projects, in the next three years, home values in the Naples-Marco Island market will rise faster than anywhere else in the state.
Whatever brings you here, one thing is true about the Southwest Florida real estate market.
“It’s hot,” said Armand Procacci from Procacci Properties.
Through 13 years as a realtor, Procacci has seen the ebb and flow of prices.
The national research group, Local Market Monitor, predicts Naples and Marco Island home values will rise 41-percent in the next three years.
The group cites above average incomes, job growth, and a huge influx of people moving into the area.
“I think it’s going to be more on the resales,” explained Carolyn Beggs, the chief operating officer at Local Market Monitor. “I don’t think construction is going to keep up with the demand that we’re seeing.”
“There is a lot of new building going on,” Procacci said. “The price per square foot is fabulous.”
He said home values will hold strong because non-traditional sales, like foreclosures and short sales, are down tremendously.
“I know the demand is coming and we do rentals so we understand the influx of people, the magnitude of people that come into this market,” Procacci said while sitting in a $10 million rental home on Barefoot Beach.
To the North in Lee County, Local Market Monitor predicts, in the next three years, the Fort Myers-Cape Coral market will see home values rise 25 -percent — 6th highest out of 21 metro areas the group studies across Florida.
“Primarily the home prices are going to be increasing over the next one, two and three years,” Beggs explained. “Just not necessarily quite as quickly as they are in the Naples market.”
“I take it with a grain of salt,” said Procacci. “I don’t see prices going up 41-percent on everything.”
Real estate is directly tied to jobs.
Nationally, the number of new jobs grew by 2-percent in the past year.
Both the Naples-Marco Island and Fort Myers-Cape Coral markets saw double that growth.
Jobs increased by 4-percent in the past 12 months.
Home values peaked in 2006 then fell off sharply.
Although no one knows for sure if a downturn is in in the future, the outlook is bright.
