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There is an old adage that “It is always darkest before the dawn”.  Well, the summer of 2010 qualified as “the darkest” period in most real estate markets, including Naples, Bonita Springs, and Estero.  Early indications are that this fall may be the “dawn” of a brighter time for Southwest Florida home sales.

Beginning in late September, buyer interest has spiked and contracts are coming together.  Showings of listed homes have been on the increase, possibly due to continued bargain prices in our market.  In the past week, the Boeglin Team has been involved in 5 contracts—2 with buyers and 3 with sellers.  In 2 instances, there were multiple offers.  This is a dramatic turn-around from the long, slow summer, and we feel that this could be the beginning of the end of a 5 year long downward spiral.

It is easy to simply look in the rear view mirror to predict the future.  While the real estate market was soaring upward in the 2003 to early 2006 period, many buyers and sellers just assumed that home prices would continue to soar into the indefinite future because that is what they had been doing.  Since 2006, many buyers and sellers have predicted that future home prices will continue to slide because that is what they have been doing.

If history is any indication, what goes up tends to come down; and what goes down tends to go back up.  Over a long term stretch, the trend has been upward.  It happens regularly with the stock market, and that has also been the pattern of home prices.  The successful investors/homeowners have been the ones who have bought at the lows, and/or sold at the highs. 

In Spanish Wells, almost all of the activity has been on less expensive properties.  Condos (particularly in Marbella) priced in the $200,000 range appear to be the current “hot button”, and if history is any indication, the momentum will eventually spread to the higher end of the market.  For now, we are just happy to have activity.