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Naples, Florida's 12-month average new-home sales rate continues to outpace its pre-pandemic 2019 rate as well as the current U.S. rate.

All three of Naples' home price tiers are outperforming the nation in appreciation. Listings are still down greatly compared with 2019, and tight resale supply has allowed builders to work down average quick move-ins from its December peak.

Naples has seen a large increase in under-construction units compared with pre-pandemic, but this reflects longer construction cycle times and just how much demand has strengthened compared with before 2020. Lot supply remains extremely tight, the tightest among Florida's small markets.

Strengths

The market has a low unemployment rate, with strong gains in high-income jobs (up nearly 120%) compared with pre-pandemic. Future developments that will come online in eastern Collier County will meet strong demand in the market and increase Naples' future new-home closing numbers.

Weaknesses

It's an expensive market not immune to payment shocks. In early spring, Naples' typical mortgage payment was 106% higher than in the same period of 2019.

Supply

Quarterly housing starts decreased 28% from a year ago, while the number of available vacant developed lots sits at 2,826, down 11.7% from the same quarter last year. In terms of supply-demand balance, the market area is 0.17% undersupplied.

Sales

New-home sales in the metropolitan area decreased 25.2% year over year to an annualized rate of 1,842 units in April. Over the past 12 months, 744 sales were attached units, and 1,098 were detached. Existing-home closings for the 12 months ending in May posted a year-over-year decline of 43.5% to an annualized rate of 10,995 units.

Prices

The average list price for a new detached home in the Naples-Marco Island region decreased 1.5% from 2022 to $616,765 in May, while the average list price for a new attached home decreased 18% over the same period to $438,101. Homes priced over $550,000 experienced the most closing activity over the past year. The new-home affordability ratio for a detached home reached 20.4% in April.

Economy

Total nonfarm employment in the metropolitan statistical area increased 0.4% from the same period last year to 165,000 payrolls in April. There were approximately 100 more jobs in April compared with the previous month. The local unemployment rate remained flat at 2.6% in April, and the jobless rate was lower than it was this time last year when it stood at 2.8%. Zonda forecasts the region's unemployment rate will finish the year at 2.5%.

Community

The current population is approximately 417,040 people and is projected to grow by 2.3% this year. There are approximately 169,380 households in the region, which is up 3.6% year over year. Forecasts show that current household formation is expected to increase by an annual growth rate of 1.9% for 2027. Incomes increased by 3.4% from the previous year to $74,413.