Bonita Springs Market Report Album May 2016

Bonita Springs Inventory Grows & List Prices Drop

The Bonita Springs-Estero Florida real estate market has seen a little bit of inventory accumulate during the slow period.  As predicted in the May Newsletter, May and June usually indicate a slow down, post "season". Home seller's had really gotten brave with their list prices and pushed the market. Buyers pumped the brakes and decided to hold off on their purchases. 

We've talked about absorption rates before and remind both home buyers and home sellers to pay close attention to those rates this summer when you’re about to engage in a homes sale or home purchase in Bonita Springs or Estero, Florida.

For the second month in a row cash purchases are slightly low … low by southwest Florida standards.  We’re at about 56% cash sales this month, last month was 55% cash.  We typically have run much higher, even into the low seventy percentile.  As home prices diminish cash has been shrinking.  We’ve seen conventional loans expand and even a few VA financed purchases.  VA mortgages aren’t very common in this area because we are not close to a base but we do occasionally have them.  It’s a great way for an eligible veteran to put very little down when purchasing a home.

Distressed properties are not a driving force in the Bonita Springs real estate market.  We have fewer than 1% of our active home listings counting for foreclosure and less than 1/4 of 1% of our listed properties are considered a short sale. Short sales are nearly extinct due to the increase in prices and values in Bonita Springs.

Nearly 50% of the closed sale home prices are in the $200,000 to $400,000 price range.  There are fewer and fewer sales under $200,000 because the bottom is selling off so quickly.  $800,000 to $1,000,000 continues to be the slowest moving price point accounting for about 2.5% of all closed sales in Bonita Springs and Estero.  What this means is that if you’re thinking of selling your home and it is in the $400,000 range, if you price it at $415,000 you will price yourself away from the eyes of 50% of the buyers.  Just a little food for thought.  If you’re searching for a luxury homes in Bonita Springs you might want to look at the $800K-$1M range to find a little more negotiating leverage because the market is moving slow and there could be more inventory.

We will likely see more price reductions across the board as the summer heats up.  If you’re a buyer you’ll want to keep track closely. If you’re a home seller and you expire before selling consider calling Chris and Angela for a forensic audit of your home or condo listing, an evaluation of placement and overview of your hyper-local market so you can pinpoint how to improve your position to re-enter the real estate market and finally sell.  Call or text Chris at 239-273-7430.