Is Naples Florida Real Estate On The Mend?

Some recent news reports about Naples Florida real estate suggest that an upturn may be on the way. It may be too early to celebrate yet, but there are actually a few positive signs out there - for example, consider these:

• Coldwell Banker, February 2009: "The third highest sales price for Florida was in Longboat Key at $3,300,000. Three of the top sales in the Southwest Florida area include Cape Coral (at $1,825,000), Marco Island (at $1,250,000) and Naples (at $1,100,000). These international buyers are from Canada, the U.K. and India."

• Toll Brothers, January 2009: "FHA mortgages . . . . Naples was approved with the highest limit in the state, ranking higher even than Palm Beach. Naples has maintained strong market values even in a slumping economy. We are seeing buyers from Canada, the U.K, France, Germany, India, Denmark and Egypt buying property in our area."

• Bonita Bay Group press release, January 2009: "Buy-Now Urgency Hits The Naples, Florida Real Estate Market . . . . the 2008 sale of 11 multi-million-dollar model homes in its upscale Mediterra community to the market's realization that now is the time to buy."

Ok, ok, so they're all builders or Realtors and they have a vested interest in talking the market up. How about banks in South West Florida?

• News-Press.com, February 2009: "Some SW Fla. banks see light at end of the tunnel . . . the pace of new foreclosures is slowing and housing prices may have bottomed out . . . The median price of a house sold with the assistance of a Realtor increased."

So Naples Florida real estate may not be back to the boom times of a few years ago, and we may need to wait and see how the latest stimulus / bail out / financial contortions play out over the next few weeks. But don't you think that to some extent the gloom can be self perpetuating? After all, if overseas buyers are still to be found, even with the dollar exchange rate at the level it is, just imagine what will happen when the expected dollar weakness materializes later this year - could another boom follow?

So if you really believe in Naples Florida real estate, remember how fortunate we are to live in this climate, stay positive and keep working hard!