After millions in repairs, Sun-N-Fun Lagoon in North Naples will open for spring break

After millions in repairs, Sun-N-Fun Lagoon in North Naples will open for spring break

Laura Layden | Naples Daily News

Sun-N-Fun Lagoon will open for spring break this year.

After millions in repairs and upgrades, Collier County’s only water park will reopen next week.

This year, the week-long break for Collier County public schools is March 10-14.

The county-owned water park, at the North Collier Regional Park, off Livingston Road, has been closed since October 2023, for assessment, maintenance and repairs.

Read the full article and see photos on naplesnews.com.

NABOR Market Report | January 2025

NABOR Market Report | January 2025

January Housing Market Shines with Opportunities

Naples, Fla. (February 21, 2025) – The numbers don’t lie, and that is good news for buyers and sellers navigating the Naples real estate market. According to the January 2025 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), overall closed sales in Naples increased 12 percent in January to 551 closed sales from 492 closed sales in January 2024. And while annual appreciation has quieted down compared to 2021 and 2022, the median closed price in January increased 9.4 percent to $659,000 from $602,000 in January 2024. (The median closed price is the point where 50 percent of all homes sold were below the figure and 50 percent sold were above the figure.)

NABOR Market Report January 2025 chart

Delayed Gratification

“Last January, it took an average of 61 days to sell a home,” said Mike Hughes, Vice President and General Manager for Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. “And now, according to the report, we are up to 92 days on the market. This is still lower than where we were in January 2020 [107 DOM], before the pandemic.”

Overall pending sales decreased 8 percent in January to 933 pending sales compared to 1,010 pending sales in January 2024. Incidentally, there were 892 pending sales in January 2020, when home values were half of what they are today.

“Home sales by out-of-state buyers are lagging a little because sales are still soft in many northern states,” said Hughes. “Despite this, the January report indicates a very healthy first month of the year for real estate.”

Setting the Stage

January’s inventory increased 39.5 percent to 6,808 properties compared to 4,881 properties in January 2024. Despite the median closed price increasing, the January report also showed 2,668 price decreases in January. Lower home prices can be an opportunity for buyers, but sellers may face more competition.

The increase in inventory may compel buyers to take more time to make a purchase decision due to having more options. It also puts pressure on sellers to be flexible with their price and terms because they are now competing with other sellers in a “buyer’s market” where buyers have more bargaining power.

“Our market faced six strong headwinds last year,” said Hughes. “Insurance, interest rates, the election, inflation, anti-trust suits, hurricanes, and educating the public on new buyer-broker agreements.”

The NABOR® January 2025 Market Report provides comparisons of single-family home and condominium sales (via the Southwest Florida MLS), price ranges, and geographic segmentation and includes an overall market summary. NABOR® sales statistics are presented in chart format, including these overall (single-family and condominium) findings for 2025:

Market Report Standouts

According to the January Market Report, closed sales of condominiums increased 2.9 percent compared to the single family home market, which had a 20.9 percent increase in closed sales. Further, the median closed price for condominiums decreased in January 2.7 percent to $466,000 from $479,000 in January 2024. But there was an increase in inventory for condominiums in January – 48.7 percent – to 3,584 condominiums from 2,411 condominiums in January 2024.

The January report also showed 553 properties in inventory in the $300,000 and below market, which is an 84.3 percent increase compared to 300 properties in January 2024. Interestingly, inventory in the $5 million and above market increased 19.7 percent in January to 499 properties from 417 properties in January 2024.

The North Naples area (34109, 34110, 34119) commanded the highest sales activity – a 5 percent increase – of all areas tracked by NABOR® during January. Median closed prices for single family homes in this area increased 13.4 percent to $730,000 from $644,000, while median closed prices for condominiums decreased 8.4 percent to $466,000 from $508,500 in January 2024.

The median closed price of condominiums located in Central Naples (34104, 34105, 34116) experienced the deepest decrease in January, 13.5 percent, to $311,250 from $360,000 in January 2024.

Note: Broker analysts for NABOR® have chosen to spotlight median closed prices rather than average sales prices during discussions because one large sale (e.g., $20 million) during the month can skew the average sales price data, which will not produce a true reflection of what the average price is in the Naples market.

Cha-ching! Ritz-Carlton Residences tally $600 million in sales at first Coconut Road tower

Cha-ching! Ritz-Carlton Residences tally $600 million in sales at first Coconut Road tower

Phil Fernandez | Fort Myers News-Press

The honchos behind The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Estero Bay shared this past week that they have 90% sold of its first 22-story edifice and are on a 2026 completion track for it near the western end of Coconut Road in Bonita Springs.

Celebrating with a topping out ceremony for this south tower, London Bay Development Group plans a north twin for an overall total of 224 condos situated within 500 acres of nature preserve, and so far has $600 million in sales.

Read the full article on naplesnews.com.

For more information about buying a home at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Estero Bay, contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

 

Rare cottage in Old Naples lists for $14.5 million. Will it be saved?

Rare cottage in Old Naples lists for $14.5 million. Will it be saved?

Laura Layden | Naples Daily News

A rare piece of Old Naples charm has come to market.

That charm, however, could be lost, with the sale of the property, which has been owned by the same family for decades.

On the property sits a quaint cottage, described as embodying the “charm, craftsmanship and lifestyle of a bygone era.”

The house is more than 85 years old.

Built with locally sourced heart pine and cypress, it has a front porch and a wood-burning fireplace, reminiscent of the old days (before central air and mosquito control made living in Naples year-round much more comfortable).

The sand for the foundation came from local beaches and the trees for the walls came from local suppliers at the edge of town because there wasn’t a highway, or rail line yet to bring in building supplies, said Lodge McKee, the exclusive listing agent with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty in Naples.

It includes a second lot that’s vacant, which could make it more attractive to a buyer looking to build a trophy estate, family compound or generational retreat, rather than to preserve a piece of Naples history, McKee said.

Read the full story and see photos on naplesnews.com.

For more information about buying a home in the Naples, Florida area contact David at David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

Marco Island reuses sand instead of importing it for beach refurbishment, saving millions

Marco Island reuses sand instead of importing it for beach refurbishment, saving millions

J. Kyle Foster | Naples Daily News

Tigertail Beach and outlying Sand Dollar Island on Marco Island have been renourished after damage from storms in 2024.

Naples-based coastal engineering firm Humiston & Moore implemented what will be an ongoing plan to protect the natural elements, the water quality and the homes and condos behind them, reusing sand pushed by the storms instead of importing it. This north part of Marco Island has been retreating over the past few decades at a rate of 40 to 50 feet a year, said Humiston & Moore Vice President Mohamed Dabees, who presented results of the project at the Marco Island City Council meeting Tuesday night.

About 200,000 yards of sand was used for the renourishment.

“That project is a ground-breaking project, because it set a very good precedent of working with nature in the sense that it’s not a typical project where we’re building hard structures. It’s a project that uses land force to make energy dissipation from storms,” Dabees said at the Feb. 18 meeting.

“(Hurricane) Irma started the collapse of that system,” he said. That’s when Marco and Dabees started to create this ongoing plan for using Sand Dollar Island, considered a spit, the lagoon and the surrounding mangroves to create a protective barrier. Each protecting the other. The spit that serves as a berm, the sand, the float (or marked) channel, the lagoon and the mangroves serve to absorb the energy caused by storms. All of which help protect the buildings and the rest of the island behind them.

Read the full story and see photos and video on naplesnews.com.