real estate | economy

Naples’ housing market beat the usual summer doldrums this year, a new report said.

As inventory continued to tighten, particularly in the low end of the market, overall median prices and pending sales both rose 8 percent in July year over year, according to a report by the Naples Area Board of Realtors released Friday. The monthly report covers home listings and sales in Collier County, excluding Marco Island.

Overall prices rose to $287,000 from $265,000, with the biggest gains in beachfront neighborhoods, followed by rapidly growing East Naples.

Both the highest and lowest ends of the market performed the best, as has been the case for several months.

Homes in the $2 million-and-up range soared to $3.4 million from $3.08 million during the period, a 10 percent bump up. Those in the $300,000-and-under range were up 9 percent, to $200,000 from $183,000.

Meanwhile, “the middle of the market was steady,” said Naples broker John Steinwand, with prices in the $300,000 to $500,000 range flat at $380,000 year-over-year, and up only 4 percent, to $677,000 from $650,000, in the $500,000 to $1 million range.

Soaring sales in the upper end

While days on the market remained flat at 77, and closed sales dropped 2 percent in the overall market, to 726 from 744, the highest end of the market was hopping.

In the $2 million-plus segment, closed sales rose 59 percent, to 35 from 22.

Kathy Zorn, broker and owner of Florida Home Realty, said in the report that it’s unusual for the high end of the market to experience such activity during the summer months, “but the demand is there, and has shifted from condos to single-family homes.”

For single-family homes, closed sales climbed 72 percent, to 31 from 18, in the $1 million to $2 million category, and 88 percent, to 30 from 16, in the $2 million and up range.

Closed sales for condos was flat overall, and actually dropped 48 percent in the $1 million to $2 million category, to 11 from 21, and 17 percent in the $2 million-and-up price range, to 5 from 6.

It was a different story for the lowest end of the market, which has experienced persistent inventory problems in recent months as prices have climbed higher.

Inventory was down by nearly a third for single-family homes in the under-$300,000 price range over the year. Consequently, closed sales of single-family homes in this price range fell by a third, to 127 from 189, while pending sales dropped 18 percent, to 168 from 204.

Supply dropped by nearly a quarter for condos in the under-$300,000 range. While sales inched up in this segment, it wasn’t by much: only 1 percent, to 253 from 250, for closed sales, and 7 percent, to 286 from 268, for pending sales.

While in the past, many of the least expensive homes in the area were purchased by cash-rich investors, Steinwand noted that the percentage of cash buyers dropped to 59.1 percent in July from 64.7 percent a year earlier.

So even though the supply of low-priced homes is tight, buyers who need a mortgage may be trying to secure a place now before interest rates rise, as many expect will happen before the end of the year, he said.

“The worry is in the financial side,” he said.