Naples home prices are predicted to rise!

Looking ahead to the third quarters of 2014, 2015 and 2016, Naples-Marco Island ranked first in all of Florida with an expected cumulative increase of 37 percent, according to Local Market Monitor, a company that tracks home prices in 315 national markets.

The biggest increase in Naples-Marco Island is anticipated in 2014, when home prices are projected to rise 15 percent. In each of the two subsequent years, the firm predicts an 11 percent increase.

For the state as a whole, the research firm expects home prices to rise 11 percent in 2014, 8 percent in 2015 and 7 percent in 2016.

Carolyn Beggs, Local Marketing Monitor’s chief operating officer states that  Naples-Marco Island’s job growth of 6.3 percent over the past year is the prime catalyst for the positive forecast.

She says: “Its job growth exceeds any metro market in Florida.  Tourism is a main driver of the growth and more retirees coming to the area permanently will also boost the population and demand for homes.”

The company says Naples’ current average home price of $267,587 is 18 percent below its equilibrium price, defined as when supply meets demand.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers ranked 13th on the list of metro areas, with a total expected home price increase of 22 percent.

Prices are expected to go up 9 percent in 2014, 6 percent in 2015 and 7 percent in 2016.

But the metro area’s job growth of 1.4 percent is weaker than it is in Naples-Marco Island, Beggs noted, dampening demand.

At $172,089, average home prices in Cape Coral-Fort Myers are 27 percent under what the firm considers an equilibrium level.

To see the latest Naples’ real estate market report, visit my data archive page.

This information was originally published in the Naples Daily News