The homes for sale in Naples continue to show signs of improvement. While still a buyer’s market, the homes available for sale increased slightly as well as the months of inventory over the month previous month.
The month of March started with 3890 homes available for sale in the Naples area. Last March 5298 homes were for sale in a year over year comparison it is a decline of 1408 homes available for sale. This represents a decline of about 27 percent. The month of February started with 3814 homes for sale 76 fewer homes than March.
The graph below shows the number of homes for sale in Naples between the years of 2008 thru 2010.
Naples homes for sale at the start of March
The months of inventory, measures the current demand for homes, in addition, if it is a buyer’s or seller’s market. When the months of inventory ranges between 5 and 7 months, it is considered a neutral market – neither buyers nor sellers have control over pricing. When months of inventory are excess of 7 months the buyers control the market as far as pricing. The reverse is true for when the inventory is 5 or fewer months.
The months of inventory at the start of March was 11.2 months compared to start of last March where there were 22.6 months of inventory. The decline in the months of inventory is about 50 percent representing another sign of the real estate market for homes in Naples is continuing to improve.
The graph below shows the movement in the months of inventory for 2008 thru 2010.
Months of inventory for Naples homes for sale
The composition of the homes for sale in Naples (traditional, foreclosures, and potential short sales) is another aspect of evaluating the real estate market. The greater the percentage of traditional sales the more strength within the market place. The percentage of the various types of listings, as noted above, should be reflected throughout the real estate cycle. The real estate cycle is listing, pending sale, and closed sale. When the percentages are inconsistent during the real estate cycle signals issues within a particular type of listing group can be noted and effective decisions made.
Below is a graph reflecting the composition of single family home listings at the start of March.
Composition of Naples homes for sale at the start of March