Aqualane Shores New Video

Hello Naples Fans!

I just completed my Aqualane Shores video illustrating a day in the life of those who live here. Check it out!

If you want to see what's for sale in Aqualane Shores go here: Aqualane Shores

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!
239-595-6223

Aqualane Shores Naples Update

Aqualane Shores is a Naples real estate success story showing a vibrant sales history during the past year with 34 sales and pending contracts.  With only 9 months of inventory on the current Aqualane Shores market does that mean pricing is on the rise?

I currently analyzed the Aqualane Shores market for a customer who is considering selling his Aqualane Shore home and while I wasn't surprised of the recent sales activity in Aqualane Shores, I am pleased to see the market has more than stabilized. My Naples real estate market experience is vast.  I've seen the tables tilt towards both a seller's and a buyer's market in drastic comparisons. I enjoy a widely accepted stable market the most. When buyers and sellers have both come to grips with the reality of a market is when the most amicable negotiations take place and the least amount of heartache and disappointment exist.

The Aqualane Shores market is moving again though which has a potential of producing a little kooky behavior from both sides.  It's probable sellers will want to push up on price and tighten on negotiations and buyers want to push back as a natural reaction.  Just as the opposite occurs during a sinking market.  But in any market smart sellers will remain reasonable as well smart buyers.  Here's what I see right now.

The most interesting point about the Aqualane Shores market right now is for the first time in several years the original list price is lower than the current list price. What I mean by that is when I average all of the prices of the current Aqualane Shores listings the average current list price is now: $3,744,296.  The average original list price is $3,738,352.  Some owners are choosing to INCREASE their prices.  While this isn't a wide spread occurrence yet, many owners are coming to grips with an improving market and it is becoming more clear on paper who's confident with their price, who wants to sell and who wants to see if they can capitalize on the current success.  18 of the 27 listings are standing firm on their original offering price.  5 of the 27 have made some sort of downward price adjustment during the term of their current listing and 2 have made substantial price increases.

Aqualane Shores negotiations are tightening.  In an Aqualane Shore market analysis from December 2010, I reported that ratio coming in at 85% of list or 76% of original list. Today list price to sales price ratio is 89% of list and 85% of original list. This is further proof Aqualane Shores owners are less flexible today than just two years ago.

Let's look at the number of Aqualane Sales over the past few years:
We're going to use August 20th is the mark.

Aug. 20, 2011- Present:
# Closed = 26
Avg. Closed $ = $2,695,862
Avg. List Closed $ = $3,048,556
Avg. $/Sq. Ft. Closed = $666
Avg. $/Sq. Ft. List = $730
Avg. List to Sales Price Ratio 88%

Aug. 20 2010 - Aug. 2011
# Closed = 21
Avg. Closed $ = $2,258,524
Avg. List Closed $ = $2,656,500
Avg. $/Sq. Ft. Closed = $662
Avg. $/Sq. Ft. List = $783
Avg. List to Sales Price Ratio 85%

Here are some other interesting statistics to consider here. 

• The average size of homes sold increased 15% this year compared to last. The bigger the home, the lower the price per square foot can be accomplished when doing an apples to apples comparison yet the average price per square foot still went up slightly. 
• The average days on the market for the properties that have sold decreased 32% compared to last year.
• There were only 3 homes that sold for over $3,000,000 the year before. This past 12 months there were 9. That's a pretty big difference.
  

Agents are already complaining about having problems finding inventory for their customers. Some buyers are coming to town expecting a nice selection and being disappointed with their choices and leaving town without pulling the trigger. Fortunately new potential sellers are reaching out to see if now might be a good time to sell...phew. We need you!

If you're thinking about buying an Aqualane Shores home, please have a smart agent like myself assist you with your search and help you with your negotiations. To put it simply, it's getting tougher.
If you're thinking about selling your Aqualane Shores home, I encourage you to hire an agent who knows the market and can help you maximize your exposure to capture those buyers waiting for the perfect place to call their home while capturing the true current value for your property.

Of course you can always contact me direct with any questions you might have regarding your personal Naples real estate objective or search my Naples real estate website for more information.

Best Regards,
Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!
PS~ There's 121 days til winter....are you ready?

Aqualane Shores Naples Florida 12/3/10

Currently there are 44 properties in Aqualane Shores on the market.  Pricing ranges between just under $600,000 to nearly $650,000 for an Aqualane Manor condo and Aqualane Shores homes start at just under $1,300,000 and increase to nearly $6,000,000.



There are 4 pending properties in Aqualane right now.

20 sales have occurred on the open market so far this year leaving just over a 2 year supply of homes still on the market.  While some locations in effect have leveled it's apparent that Aqualane Shores still has some selling off to do before she can be considered a stable market. 

Stability is also reflected in the sales price to list price ratio at closing.  On average properties are selling at about 85% of list and 76% of original list in Aqualane Shores right now.  Now don't get too excited...some of these homes were on the market for quite awhile and that's why we're currently seeing that 76% number. 

That brings me to two different negotiating topics I want to explain to help you better understand the Aqualane Shores market and really Naples as a whole.  We are not blessed with a real estate market that thinks alike in whole which leads to confusion and frustration when it comes to negotiating.  Typically a market shares a like mind and it's easy for buyers, sellers and agents to grasp and understand how negotiations are handled and understood in a market.  Naples isn't like that.  With so many people coming from so many different places, owners and agents tend to take with them their negotiating strategies and other beliefs with them when they come here.  That leads to chaos...LOL.  Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.  Some owners think they need to list their property high so they can negotiate alot of money off the price so the buyer feels like they're getting a great deal.  If you've ever seen this done, there's no mystery...the numbers can be  impressive.  Take 440 15th Avenue for example: 

They negotiated from $1,890,000 which was the original list price to $1,275,000.  That's only 67% of list price.  Now TONS of people are thinking...well if I would've known they'd go down to that, I would've bought it...sigh...the thing is it's hard to determine what an owner will take until you have your Realtor do some homework for you or you take a stab at it. 

Here's another example: 

260 18th Ave. S. was on the market for $5,495,000 and sold for $5,300,000.  That's 96% of list price.  As you can see if you were expecting to purchase this property at 67% of list price you would've felt like you'd been smacked in the head to get that counter from the seller.  You just can't assume in Naples....trust me. 

The other topic I'll touch on is market time.  It's the weirdest thing you'll ever see but when I put it in this light, you might understand it better.
Too many sellers especially those located in REALLY great areas are willing to wait to sell.  From what I've gathered there's two reasons for this.

1. Because they'll use their place during season if it doesn't sell.
2. Because cause they can wait.

Seriously, Naples is not a rough place to hang out while you're waiting for your property to sell and I have never had anyone say, "Oh my GOD get me out of this town".  It's typically a bittersweet departure if they're even fully leaving town to begin with.  Many sell and purchase something else here...

My whole point of this post is to explain...now would be a good time to purchase in Aqualane Shores and pick a smart Realtor to help you do it.

By the way, did you know there's only 17 days til winter?  It's supposed to snow in Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Bloomfield Hills this week.  Maybe you should call me! :)

Best Regards,

Shannon Lefevre, PA
Your Naples Smart Girl!