photo mosaic of Naples, Florida pier, Bayfront, Bayside, dolphin jumping, magenta orchid, water birds silhouetted against the sunset
Mile of momentum. Old 41 rapid transformation reshapes downtown Bonita

Mile of momentum. Old 41 rapid transformation reshapes downtown Bonita

Phil Fernandez | Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News

The In the Know questions from you about what’s become a one-mile expanse of monster construction along what at one time had been a lonely stretch of Southwest Florida highway are many, such as these.

“Hi Phil. I enjoy reading your column, and now I find myself writing to you about the developments going on in my backyard: Old 41 in downtown Bonita Springs. So much has been done over the years to restore and maintain the ‘downtown’ nature of the village,” said reader Barbara McMahon. “Can you tell us what the plan is for the area from Terry to Bonita Beach Road?

“Right now there is major construction of a luxury apartment complex − Imperial 41 − that spans both sides of the river. And just a block south, the area where the Lee Sheriff had a satellite station is fenced off for construction, and the park across the street is also fenced off. (The) city has developed Old 41 into a lovely walkable road with islands and great landscaping. Will it be overwhelmed?”

Read the full article on naplesnews.com to get answers to questions like “What’s behind Imperial 41 housing in Bonita Springs, Florida?, How did Lee County’s Imperial 41 come together in Bonita?,” and more.

Are you looking for a home in beautiful Southwest Florida? Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

Rare $11.5 million Marco Island estate hits market

Rare $11.5 million Marco Island estate hits market

Laura Layden | Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News

For the first time in more than four years, a waterfront estate has hit the market in Marco Island’s exclusive Hideaway Beach community.

The price tag: $11.5 million.

The estate, built in 2022, spans more than 5,500 square feet. It has four bedrooms (all of them suites), with five bathrooms in total, including a powder room.

The property has nearly 100 feet of water frontage, with direct beach access, in a private gated community.

The affluent community includes a private nine-hole executive golf course and clubhouse, with two miles of beach sitting directly on the Gulf, and a recently added sports center.

On Marco, Hideaway Beach is the only place where you can have a home directly on the beach.

Cathy Rogers, a global real estate advisor with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty on Marco, is the agent for the rare listing. She also sold the last beachfront single-family home listing in Hideaway Beach, a deal that closed in March 2022.

“This property is located at a more private end of the beach, the other one was right next to the clubhouse,” Rogers said.

Read the full article with photos on naplesnews.com.

Ready to explore the most exceptional properties of Southwest Florida? Contact me today to begin your journey. Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

Bonita Boom. 2,000 new homes, major retail reshaping SWFL corridor

Bonita Boom. 2,000 new homes, major retail reshaping SWFL corridor

Phil Fernandez | Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News

For the past couple of years, Bonita Springs reader Jerry Lenke has been expressing worries to In the Know about the explosion of growth in his part of Southwest Florida, particularly “the added autos” east of I-75.

Now, Lenke is checking on “new units on Bonita Beach Road. What’s the latest count?” he asked. “It’s gonna be a traffic nightmare.”

That’s good commentary there, reminiscent of the similarly named Jerry “The King” Lawler, one of our favorite rasslin’ commentators, who also has a south Lee County home and reported recently he has been recovering nicely from a health scare. So Jerry “The King” Lenke it is.

“King” Lenke’s inquiry is among your many questions filling up our big ol’ Bonita bucket. With more in upcoming columns, today we’ll focus on the eastern Bonita Beach Road corridor including the newest major chains, shops, restaurants, neighborhoods and apartments set to launch as soon as next week.

Let’s get ready to rumble. Here’s what to know.

How many new Bonita Beach Rd. homes east of I-75 in 5 years?
About 2,000 additional residential units will be occupied within the next five years east of I-75, according to Bonita Springs City Council member Jim Fitzpatrick whose district includes the Revana Lakes development approved this year as one of the newest joining the jumble.

How many new Bonita Beach Rd. homes east of I-75 in 5 years?
About 2,000 additional residential units will be occupied within the next five years east of I-75, according to Bonita Springs City Council member Jim Fitzpatrick whose district includes the Revana Lakes development approved this year as one of the newest joining the jumble.

Read the full article on naplesnews.com.

It’s Gulf sea turtle nesting season, how you can keep them safe

It’s Gulf sea turtle nesting season, how you can keep them safe

Chad Gillis | Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News

They’re Leviathans of the sea, truly massive creatures that cross oceans each year in order to feed and reproduce.

Sea turtles flock to Florida beaches each summer to dig giant holes, fill them with hundreds of eggs, cover the eggs and then return to the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf.

Compared to their land cousins, sea turtles are enormous, some (like the leatherback) reaching the size of a small car.

They first emerged around 110 million years ago, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or FWC, the state agency charged with protected sea turtles and other wildlife.

State nest monitoring increases
Locally, dozens of volunteers and scientists will spend most summer mornings walking local beaches and looking for turtle tracks, which are several feet wide and go from the Gulf, up the beach and then back down to the water.

The state reported more than 133,414 nests on beaches that are monitored in Florida, and that number broke the previous 2016 record by about 8,000 nests, according to Florida Wildlife Research Institute records and local sea turtle experts.

Loggerheads are the most common sea turtle species found on Southwest Florida beaches, and they nest here on places like Sanibel Island, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Beach, in Naples and on Marco Island.

Read more about the sea turtles on naplesnews.com.

Are you looking for a home in the Naples, Florida area? Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

Real estate news: SW Florida a prime spot for home buyers right now

Real estate news: SW Florida a prime spot for home buyers right now

Mark H. Bickel | Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News

Here’s some good news for people looking to purchase a home in SW Florida, at least according to one analysis.

As the summer homebuying season kicks off and National Homeownership Month approaches, new data from Bankrate shows that Florida is home to six of the nation’s 10 best markets for buyers, according to Bankrate’s Buyer Opportunity Index.

Among them, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers market ranks No. 2 nationwide, supported in part by strong job and population growth in recent years, along with a faster pace of new residential construction than many other parts of the country.

What they are saying: Florida is a ‘buyers’ market
“In some parts of the country, including Florida, the pandemic housing boom is clearly over,” says Jeff Ostrowski, Housing Market Writer and Analyst at Bankrate. “This is frustrating for sellers, but it represents an opportunity for buyers who have been waiting for market conditions to turn in their favor.”

Bankrate’s Buyer Opportunity Index compared market conditions in February 2026 against February 2022 by analyzing four key metrics:

  • housing inventory
  • price cuts
  • median days to a pending sale
  • the sale-price-to-list-price ratio, to identify which markets buyers and sellers have the upper hand

Buyers markets in Florida ranking in Top-10 in U.S.

Florida markets ranking in the top 10:

  • No. 2: Cape Coral-Fort Myers

See the full list on naplesnews.com.

Are you looking for a home in beautiful Southwest Florida? Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.

NABOR Market Report | April 2026

NABOR Market Report | April 2026

Robust Pending Sales in April Confirm Market Resiliency

Naples, Fla. (May 22, 2026) – As high season begins to settle and traffic around town eases, the Naples real estate market is showing no signs of cooling off. Overall pending sales (homes under contract) in April increased 38.2 percent to 1,388 pending sales from 1,004 pending sales in April 2025. Steady demand for the Naples lifestyle during April resulted in a 7.7 percent increase in the overall median closed price to $630,000 from $585,000 in April 2025. Broker analysts reviewing the April 2026 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), predict a solid summer market ahead, especially before the August elimination of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac limited review process for condominium buyers, which will require lenders to review more data, including a condominium association’s reserve fund status.

The percent of list price received in April increased .3 percent, which means more sellers are pricing homes right for today’s market. In fact, less than 30 percent of homes for sale in April initiated a price decrease.

Condo Market Stabilization
“Many condominium associations required to complete structural integrity reserve studies have opted for pooled reserves to help give the associations financial flexibility and avoid imposing sudden assessments against unit owners,” said a Broker. “Grouping funds together allows condominium associations to pay for reserve items as they occur over time in contrast to rigidly allocating funds to a specific reserve item. Pooled reserves can help condominium associations implement a variety of repairs from storm damage more quickly.”

“The condo market is definitely showing signs of improvement,” said a Broker, “especially considering all the things thrust upon them in recent years like mandatory structural integrity reserve studies for those three stories of higher and laws requiring associations fund reserves to adequately pay for structural repairs that exceed $25,000.”

Compared to sales in the single-family homes market, sales in the Naples condominium market lagged until recently. Cindy Carroll of Carroll & Carroll Appraisers and Consultants contends that “special assessments and quarterly association fees made the cost of condo ownership challenging, but the new regulations are making it easier for buyers to understand the total costs upfront.”

Sales of single-family homes outpaced condominiums during 2025, most likely because condo associations were rebuilding those reserves by issuing special assessments upon its owners. But in April, the report showed a 51.4 percent increase in condominium pending sales. Likewise, there were 575 closed sales of condominiums compared to 493 closed sales of single-family homes for the month. And despite a higher cost of ownership, in the last 12 months, there were 1,083 closed sales of condominiums priced below $300,000, while the single-family market could only claim 192 closed sales below $300,000.

The April Market Report identifies 527 condominiums for sale under $300,000 compared to only 120 single-family homes for sale below $300,000. And while inventory has decreased across every other price category and home type, the under $300,000 condominium market grew 3.9 percent in April.

Equity-rich Investment
“The median closed price has increased 86 percent since 2019,” said Carroll. “There are a lot of homeowners in Naples sitting on some good equity.”

New listings, despite decreasing 14.9 percent in April to 1,169 new listings from 1,373 new listings in 2025, are not far off from what we enjoyed pre-COVID. But because a remarkable increase in sales is occurring, new listings can’t keep up with demand so the overall inventory in Naples decreased 21 percent to 5,919 properties from 7,492 properties.

Geographically, the median closed price of condominiums in Central Naples (34104, 34015, 34116) increased 9.7 in April to $334,500 from $305,000 in April 2025. The median closed price of single family homes in East Naples (34114, 34117, 34120, 34137) and Immokalee/Ave Maria, where most new homes are being built, increased 12.6 percent in April to $675,000 from $599,500 in April 2026, and 6.2 percent to $504,500 from $475,000 in April 2026, respectively.

The area still suffers from some oversupply in historically desirable neighborhoods including Aqualane Shores and Park Shore, but other desirable neighborhoods east of I-75 like the Vineyards have less than a two-month supply of properties for sale.

Heightened activity in the condominium market (20.5 percent increase in closed sales) during April resulted in an 8 percent decrease in its overall median closed price to $450,900 from $490,000 in April 2025. But demand for single-family homes in April (28.4 percent increase in pending sales), pushed its the median closed price up 14.1 percent to $850,000 from $745,000 in April 2025.

The NABOR® April 2026 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 2026:
NABOR Market Report April 2026 chart

Are you seeking a home in the Bonita Springs – Naples, Florida area? Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.