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Market Update: Are the tides turning in Marco Island Real Estate?
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On the beautiful beaches and waterways of Marco Island, the market trends show promising growth. This unique island offers a vast array of lifestyle choices from the gorgeous crescent shape beach, boating vistas, the amenity rich community of Hideaway Beach, to the private, exclusive community of Key Marco. Marco Island is a destination difficult to duplicate in Florida.
While we enjoy our gorgeous winter weather frolicking in the sun or playing outdoor sports, many of our northern counterparts endure the trials of cold weather, snow, and ice. This desirable lifestyle, coupled with the tax advantages of Florida residency, are a draw for the 78 million retiring Baby Boomers. These factors are creating pent up demand for our local market.
According to Dr. Yun, Director of Research and Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, buyers have delayed entry into our market “due to lack of confidence, not necessarily due to lack of financial wherewithal. But with pent up demand accumulating, its just a matter of time before it’s unleashed onto the market.” Dr. Yun also states that “financial wherewithal” has grown significantly with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering at record highs.
Our desirable lifestyle and favorable currency exchange rates are also a draw for European and Canadian investors entering our marketplace. As the U.S. Dollar slumps to all-time lows against the Euro, many English and German buyers are flocking to our area to scoop up properties.
In October 2004, $1,000,000 Euro would give a European buyer $1,243,800 U.S. of purchasing power. As of Oct. 1, $1,000,000 Euro would give a European buyer an estimated $1,423,899 U.S. of purchasing power in our market. In just over three years, the devaluation of the U.S. dollar has given our European counterparts an increase of 18 percent in purchasing power in our marketplace.
Marco Island is already starting to experience signs of recovery in the marketplace. While we don’t expect a robust recovery, we are currently enjoying gradual, yet sustained growth.
Growth in the real estate market can be found in single family homes which experienced a 19 percent growth rate (sales plus pending contracts) in a year over year comparison and condos reflecting a 7 percent growth rate. Also, posting positive news is a decline in available listings by 2.77 percent from the same time period of 2006.
Surprisingly, water indirect homes post the largest growth with a 48 percent increase in year over year comparisons. Water indirect homes are water front homes that have boat size limitations due to bridge access to reach the Ten Thousand Islands and Gulf of Mexico. Of the water indirect homes that are pending or sold in the past year, 43 percent are newer homes built after 1999.
Water direct homes posted a 3 percent gain in overall sales growth in a year over year sales comparisons. Water direct homes in the Estates showed promising growth with almost double the number of sales in year over year sales comparisons. This past summer, Marco Island experienced its overall highest reported sale at $8,400,000 for a water direct home in the Estates area.
On the flip side, inland homes in the Estates and Hideaway Beach showed a drop in sales of 17 percent; whereas, inland homes, not located in Hideaway and the Estates, showed a gain of 10 percent.
Where do we go from here? As a seller, if you aren’t willing to price your property competitively in this market, hold off until prices appreciate to your selling price. Long term price appreciation has been a historical constant in the Marco Island Real Estate Market. Furthermore, this approach allows buyers to focus on a realistic inventory and quickly find their home on Marco Island.
As a buyer, enjoy the available selection of homes before they diminish further. As more buyers enter the marketplace, the availability and selection will continue to diminish. Don’t miss you chance to purchase your dream home in paradise!
Look for my upcoming article on the Real Estate Market scheduled for Oct. 19. To receive my article in your inbox, please send an e-mail to with “Marco Island Real Estate” in the subject line.
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When buying or selling real estate on Marco Island, contact Natalie Kirstein, MBA, Premier Properties of SW FL, Inc., office 239-642-2222, direct 239-784-0491, or e-mail: NatalieK@premiermail.net. Natalie can be found at Premier Properties Office in the Esplanade on Marco Island.
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If you call Mrs. Webb, the leading broker for English and German buyers over the past 20 years, she will tell you those buyers are flocking AWAY from Marco and putting their properties on the market. As they tell her and their friends, who would want to come here to this mess with the Mediterranean is so much prettier, nicer and closer. Buyers are not going to come back until we clean up the island, stop kidding yourselves.
My snowbird neighbors don't even want to come back, why would someone new want to be here?
#1 Posted by Oracle on October 4, 2007 at 2:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow. Very optomistic. Lets review.
Inventory is rising.
Long term interest rates are rising.
The dollar is losing value rapidly.
I will stop there.
How is there growth in any catagory she mentioned? Supply and demand dictate the market. Rumor is local banks are sitting on alot of foreclosures unable to dump them on the market for fear of upsetting their large investors as this will drive down the values further. Pray this is not true. A market is a market. No one can manipulate a true market. It will continue its course. These people will just delay the inevitable. All communities around SW FL are nearing bottom thanks to banks dumping these properties. Not here. 8 million is our highest sale? Grey Oaks, Meditara etc in Naples sells for those numbers all the time. Rumor is Collier county saw a 77% increase in foreclosures in August. Can nor confirm nor deny but the numbers will come out sometime this month. Will be interesting. By the way there are more home being foreclosed on now than any other time in U.S. history barring the great depression.
#2 Posted by strike3 on October 4, 2007 at 9:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I guess the Tides are turning....just ask WAMU..........
SEATTLE - Washington Mutual Inc. said Friday that the weak housing market and the recent mortgage crunch will lead to a 75 percent drop in its third-quarter net income, making it the latest financial institution to warn investors it took a major hit over the summer.
WaMu, the nation's largest savings bank, reported net income of $748 million in the third quarter of 2006, meaning third-quarter 2007 net income is likely to be somewhere around $187 million.
#3 Posted by strike3 on October 5, 2007 at 1:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
1500 condos, 1000 homes and continuous price decreases, deals going down at 25% discounts to asking prices, insecurity in the financial markets...we have a way to go before stability in our real estate market returns.
The way I look at the 80 million boomers is that equates to 40 million households in potential...it's the top 2% that will go to high priced markets...still that is a potential 800,000 customers in the higher end and Marco Island is a very desirable place and if we ever get the infrastucture complete it will be even better...so they will come...eventually. Also the Europeans had babies after the war too, and right now their money is worth more as pointed out. There certainly is hope for a great improvement but it is a year or so away still. This article may be a little too optimistic for me...but that's just an opinion.
Natalie does a nice job and the positive spin can't hurt.
#4 Posted by captnjimbo on October 7, 2007 at 11:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Looking for ED ISSLER, are you out there ED ISSLER, if anyone knows where he is can you please let him know I am still waiting to hear from him. I am starting to get a little worried for ED ISSLER - is he missing. Does anyone know - did he take a trip to Aruba or something. Please if anyone knows if ED ISSLER is OK - just let me know. I want to know that he is safe and unharmed. He is our voice of reason.
Here is my dilema: ED ISSLER has stated on many occassions that the state is going to mandate that all septics be replaced with centeralized sewers. Well knowing that ED ISSLER would not make such a statement unless he knew for fact it was true I wanted to back him up on this one. But before I posted anything like that I needed to confirm myself that what I was posting was true - so I just wanted his contact name and number at the DEP and the Govenors office where he got this information. Of course assuming he was not just repeating something he had heard 2nd hand, that he actually has spoke to the DEP and the Govenors Office. So for a good long while I have been asking ED ISSLER to share his contacts with me, but I have not heard from him. Maybe I should call chief Reinke - but he maybe still working on the mysterious asbestos case, who knows.
Anyways, after not hearing back from ED ISSLER I called information and got the numbers to the DEP in Ft Myers and Tallahassee and the Governors Office and even went so far as to call the EPA. Obviously none of them know what they are talking about because no one would confirm what ED ISSLER has said. And they are so far gone as to even make a statement that just the opposite is happening that a bill known as 749 was passed where cities now have to do a feasibility study that has to be approved by a committee before they can even attempt to embarq on switching to centralized sewers.
ED ISSLER I need you. We need to get to the correct source of your information. Please help. These people I have spoke to at the DEP and the EPA need to be corrected. They are speading lies. Our voice of reasoned and sound information ED ISSLER is needed.
ED ISSLER WHERE ARE YOU??? HELP!!!!!
#5 Posted by happy34145 on October 7, 2007 at 11:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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