Development to begin soon.
Laura Layden | Naples Daily News
A new town planned for rural Collier County has reached a pivotal moment.
In late June, county commissioners quietly signed off on the new town that’s been years in the making.
The creation of the town, known as Big Cypress, appeared on the board’s summary agenda, reserved for noncontroversial matters.
One frustrated environmentalist spoke against the development before it came to a swift vote.
The town – planned by Collier Enterprises – won final approval along with three unrelated, undisputed items, in one fell swoop, at a county commission meeting June 27.
A town and two villages
The town will connect two new villages planned by Collier Enterprises, known as Rivergrass and Bellmar. It will replace the developer’s third approved village, Longwater, with the addition of roughly 544 acres to its borders.
Centered in and around the two villages, the town will span more than 1,544 acres, off Oil Well Road, east of Golden Gate Estates.
Read the full article.
For new homes in the Naples, Collier County, Florida area, contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Laura Layden | Naples Daily News
The town of Ave Maria will grow by nearly 1,000 acres.
On Tuesday, Collier County commissioners greenlighted the change, without debate, bringing the town’s size to 5,000 acres, the largest allowed by county rules.
The size doesn’t include Ave Maria University. Its roughly 1,000-acre campus and other public benefits, such as parks, aren’t counted in its borders under the approvals that allowed the town to be built on rural lands, roughly 25 miles east of Naples.
Why is the town expanding?
Mostly, it’s to allow for more single-family homes to be built, explained David Genson, president of development for Barron Collier Cos. in Naples.
Barron Collier Cos. is the force behind the town, in partnership with Tom Monaghan, the creator of Domino’s Pizza and founder of Ave Maria University.
Get the full story on naplesnews.com
Explore homes in Ave Maria in southwest Florida! Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Home Values Continue to Climb in April
Naples, Fla. (May 26, 2023) – The Naples real estate market enjoyed another month of increased home values driven mainly by another month of below typical inventory levels. According to the area’s top real estate brokers, resale home inventory in Naples this year will unlikely spike to levels we enjoyed before the pandemic. However, since 2019, the number of new listings each month has remained fairly consistent, with most months enjoying an average of between 1,100 and 1,300 new listings. According to the April 2023 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), overall inventory increased 64.4 percent in April to 2,868 homes for sale from 1,745 homes for sale in April 2022.
“One factor holding back home sales right now is interest rates,” said Mike Hughes, Vice President and General Manager for Downing-Frye Realty, Inc. “Even though a majority of our sales in Naples are cash transactions, many buyers who own a home up north and want to purchase a home in Naples are having a hard time selling their northern home because the pool of potential buyers that can afford a mortgage at today’s rates is limited.”
Interest rates may also be influencing prospective sellers in Naples who currently enjoy a low interest rate on their mortgage too. In April, new listings decreased 25 percent to 1,116 new listings from 1,488 new listings in April 2022. Though many homes in Naples have doubled in value since 2019, providing sellers with a nice profit to use toward their next home purchase. With a hefty down payment, these sellers can minimize their next home’s mortgage obligation to make monthly payments affordable, even at a higher interest rate.
Interestingly, and according to Cindy Carroll of Carroll & Carroll Appraisers & Consultants, LLC, months of inventory is decreasing in communities off the water and east of I-75; a telltale sign that living in close proximity to the beach is not always a required factor of homeownership in Naples anymore. “In January 2019, Port Royal had 1.3 years of inventory; and today it has 1.3 years of inventory. But in January 2019, the Vineyards had 10 months of inventory; and today it has less than a month.” Carroll went on to add that in some areas east of Collier Boulevard (SR 951) there is less than four months of inventory.
As a result of slow inventory gains this year, pending and closed sales activity simmered slightly in April compared to March. Pending sales decreased 18.4 percent to 1,123 pending sales from 1,377 pending sales in April 2022, and closed sales in April decreased 24.2 percent to 947 closed sales from 1,250 closed sales in April 2022.
While the April report revealed 1,128 price decreases occurred during the month, Hughes said, “some price negotiating is happening, though low ball offers are not a good strategy in today’s tight inventory market.”
The report also showed the area’s overall median closed price is not increasing by double-digits each month anymore. In April, the median closed price for single family homes increased 3.1 percent to $825,000 from $800,000 in April 2022. But it’s a different story in the condominium market, where the median closed price increased 14.3 percent in April to $526,000 from $460,000 in April 2022.
The NABOR® April 2023 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 2023: 
Find your home in southwest Florida! Contact David at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Inventory Up and Prices Hold Steady in February
Naples, Fla. (March 24, 2023) – Buyers looking for homes in Naples during February were met with more choices as overall inventory increased 131.4 percent to 2,835 properties from 1,225 properties in February 2022. Broker analysts reviewing the February 2023 Market Report by the Naples Area Board of REALTORS® (NABOR®), which tracks home listings and sales within Collier County (excluding Marco Island), attribute some of the rise in inventory to Hurricane Ian as many sellers were forced to address and remedy damage caused by the storm before the property was ready to welcome buyers. February’s overall median closed price is the same as January’s median close price of $600,000.
The NABOR® February 2023 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 2023:
Contact David to find your new home in Naples, Florida, at David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
Laura Layden | Naples Daily News
A sprawling estate in Aqualane Shores that fetched a record price of $62 million is back on the market.
Now, it’s listed for $88 million.
When it sold last year, the beachfront residence – at 25 16th Ave. S. – shattered the record price in Naples – and all of Collier County – by $10 million.
According to Realtor.com, it went on the market about two weeks ago.
Built in 2014, the 16,000-square-foot estate has six bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
Among its stand-out features: A glass wine room, a gourmet kitchen, a game room and a second-level pool.
It offers 175 feet of beach frontage, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.
Read the full article and see photos.
To view homes currently for sale in Port Royal contact David at 239-285-1086 or David@DavidFlorida.com
Laura Layden | Naples Daily News
Move over New York and Chicago. Step aside San Francisco.
A new study names Naples as a top city for corporate headquarters post-pandemic.
The Boyd Co., a corporate site selection consultant based in Princeton, New Jersey, conducted the national study.
The results reflect the “new normal” of remote work and the growing “fiscal and quality of life challenges” in more traditional hubs for head offices, such as “The Big Apple.”
What factors did the study look at?
The study included an examination of annual operating expenses and a review of state tax structures.
The cost analysis is based on operating a new, top tier Class A, 75,000-square-foot corporate headquarters, with 200 administrative support workers, from top to bottom.
The estimated outlay in Naples: Roughly $19.2 million a year.
That compared to more than $21.1 million in Everett, Washington, the most expensive to operate in, and less than $17.8 million in East Brainerd, Tennessee, the cheapest – among the top cities named in the study.
Read the full article on naplesnews.com
For more information about buying a home in Southwest Florida contact David. Email or call David@DavidFlorida.com or 239-285-1086.
