October 2023 Real Estate Newsletter: Naples Golf Communities

OCTOBER 2023 REAL ESTATE NEWSLETTER

Swinging into Paradise: Southwest Florida is a Golf Oasis

As you know, Southwest Florida (SWFL) is a golfer’s paradise, boasting a plethora of public and private courses, championship golf courses, golf communities, and opportunities for both residents and visitors to enjoy the sport. I spend a good portion of my time with new clients discussing local golf community options and all the details, so this month, I am focusing this newsletter on Southwest Florida and Naples golf communities.

Below the golf stats, I included my normal real estate newsletter, covering market stats from last month, as well as September real estate news, and more!

Setting the Standard: 10 of the Top Naples Golf Courses Communities

I recently released a golf blog post on 10 of the Top Golf Course Communities so I wanted to add additional info to support that post for those interested (SWFL golf landscape includes Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, and Marco Island).

Southwest Florida:  One of the Highest Golf Courses per Capita Destination

Did you know there are around 150 area golf courses from Marco Island all the way north to Sarasota?  Staying more local, Naples, Bonita Springs, Estero, and Marco Island include 95 golf clubs and over 100 courses, 112 to be exact based on my research (that’s 2061 holes of golf!).  That includes 106 private courses (bundled, equity and semi-private options), and 18 public courses (public and semi-private). *Stats as of October 2023 **Semi-Private courses double counted.

• Naples Golf Courses – 80 Courses with 68 Clubs
• Bonita Springs Golf Courses – 15 Courses with 12 Clubs
• Estero Golf Courses – 15 Courses with 13 Clubs
• Marco Island Golf Courses – 2 Courses with 2 Clubs
• Southwest Florida Golf Courses – 112 Courses with 95 Clubs

Play at your Leisure: Public Golf Course Options

If you don’t belong to a local golf club or golf country club, there are 18 public course options to choose from which are either public or semi-private.  Those 18 Southwest Florida public golf courses are spread among 16 golf clubs, as Tiburón and Lely Resort have 2 public golf courses. We have a great house for sale in the Lely Classics community, 7473 Martinique Terrace, which would allow you to play both public courses while you wait for membership to The Classics Country Club. Contact Matt at (239) 580-8864 to discuss the Lely Resort golf community or this specific Naples house for sale.

Below is the list of Southwest Florida public golf courses.

A Membership-Driven Haven: Private Golf Course Options

Southwest Florida’s private golf scene boasts exclusivity, as you can tell from the above numbers – most of our championship golf course options have membership requirements.  Of the 106 area private golf course options, bundled, equity and semi-private memberships, Naples private golf courses are the lion’s share with 75 golf courses.

• Naples Private Golf Course Breakdown:
  • Naples has 18 bundled golf courses communities, where the golf membership is secured/assumed when you purchase a home in that golf community.
  • Naples FL has 47 equity golf course communities, where a separate golf course membership is required.  Today a large percentage of the private golf communities have waitlists, as demand has surpassed supply over the last 2-3 years.  There are a few courses which don’t have current waitlists, so if you would like to discuss current options, please call Matt at (239) 580-8864.  For example, our listing in the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort at 2581 Escada Drive in Tiburón currently has a golf membership available! What an opportunity to live on Tiburón’s Gold Course!
  • Naples has 9 semi-private golf course communities, where a membership is required yet the course is available to the public as a resort or in off-season months.
  • Naples Beach Club is rebuilding their golf course, it is expected to be semi-private.

• Bonita Springs Private Golf Course Breakdown:
  • Bonita Springs has 6 bundled golf course communities, 8 equity golf course communities and 1 semi-private option.  Contact me for current non-waitlist options.

• Estero Private Golf Course Breakdown:
  • Estero has 4 bundled golf course communities, 8 equity golf course communities and 2 semi-private golf community options.

• Marco Island Private Golf Course Breakdown:
  • Marco Island has 1 bundled golf course community and 1 equity golf course community.

For further information on the differences between equity and bundled golf communities, head to our Golf Communities page for more details.

Living The Green Dream: Golf Communities Unveiled

For most of the golf enthusiasts already in the area, or those relocating to Naples, they want the fairways to become their backyard and the clubhouses their second home. As a realtor who specializes heavily on luxury markets as well as boating and golfing communities, I have discussions with clients weekly on Naples golf communities, as well as the surrounding SWFL area.  Frequent questions:

• What are the top Naples golf communities and what are the home prices?  Naples Florida has 75 private golf courses which most are associated with a golf community.  I have outlined the 10 of the top communities most popular with clients, home prices, current market inventory, golf membership fees and more in this blog post: 10 of the Top Naples Florida Golf Courses in Golf Communities (in no specific order)
  1. Grey Oaks Country Club (Naples, FL)
  2. The Club at Mediterra (Bonita Springs & Naples, FL)
  3. Quail West (Naples, FL)
  4. Bay Colony Golf Club (Naples, FL)
  5. Pelican Bay Golf Club (Naples, FL)
  6. Bonita Bay Club (Bonita Springs, FL)
  7. Talis Park Golf Club (Naples, FL)
  8. Tiburón Golf Club (Naples, FL)
  9. Fiddler’s Creek (Naples, FL)
  10. Twin Eagles (Naples, FL)

• What do the golf memberships include and what are the fees?  Membership fees and dues vary from one golf club to another.  I have outlined the golf club initiation fees and annual dues here.

• What golf memberships do not have waitlists?  I’m in regular contact with the membership directors and help my customers understand and navigate the membership process and the golf membership waitlists which currently exist at most but not all clubs. Also, most clubs (but not all) allow a buyer to bypass the golf membership waitlist if they are purchasing a home where the seller is giving up their golf membership upon sale of the home. Typically this doesn’t avoid the membership initiation fee but does bypass a lengthy and what is often a multi-year wait. Clubs offer a varying amount of play when on their waitlists and also offer expanded privileges in the off-season. Several of the clubs even have waitlists for their waitlists!  Covering waitlist specifics in a blog post isn’t feasible as it’s a moving target so if you are curious about certain clubs and/or want to discuss the golf communities you are interested in, then by all means let’s have a discussion and dive into the details.

All important questions and a worthwhile discussion for those looking to invest in an established golf community. If that’s you, let’s connect – I can be reached at (239) 580-8864.

Golfing Galore: Swing Into the Best Tee Time Opportunities

Southwest Florida hosts a multitude of prestigious golf tournaments throughout the year, which are a great opportunity to tour the course. I try to go to most tournaments every year – the course is not packed and I get the opportunity to see some great golf played!

Some of the most awaited events include the Chubb Classic and the Grant Thornton Invitational. These tournaments typically light up the region in during our high season, November to April. I included the site links below in case you were interested in getting tickets.

1. Grant Thornton Invitational: Hosted at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, this PGA Tour golf tournament will take place December 8-10, 2023. A new format for 2023 replaces the QBE Shootout and combines players from the PGA and LPGA tours.
2. Chubb Classic: An annual PGA Tour Champions event held at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, dates set for February 15-18th, 2024.
3. CME Group: A women’s professional golf tournament and the season-ending event of the LPGA Tour held at Tiburón Golf Club November 16-19, 2023.
4. Terra Cotta Invitational: Held at Naples National Golf Club, this prestigious men’s amateur golf tournament attracts top amateur players from around the country, 2024 dates are April 17-21st.

If you’re not a member anywhere yet and want to play more courses, pick up the South Florida PGA pass, which allows you to play some courses during the off-season that are otherwise private and at reduced green fees. It’s a great deal if you can be diligent getting early morning tee times before the summer heat sets in.

I hope you enjoyed this months real estate newsletter golf intro and top golf community blog post.  See below for the September 2023 real estate market and recent real estate news.

~Matt

September 2023 Market Graphs & Commentary

In this month’s market trend summary, I have separated condos and single family homes so we can see the differences in the market for each specific property type in Naples over the last 5.5 years. Last month I highlighted the >$2M segment of the market but this month I’m including the entire Naples area market. Keep in mind that Naples is a large geographic area of approximately 150 square miles so these charts summarize a wide variety of property types and price points but give us the largest and most statistically significant data set.

AVERAGE SALES PRICE

The average sales price for single-family homes in Naples ticked up to $1.26M but still down from a peak of $1.56M last January and the average sales price of condo ticked down to $656k, down from a peak last January of $837k. It’s common to see a drop in average selling prices in the off season and then see the average selling price will increase during season when more expensive properties are sold more frequently.

AVERAGE PRICE PER SQFT

The average selling price per square foot for a home in Naples was $476 per square foot in September, up from last month but down from the peak of $544 per square foot experienced last January. The average selling price per square foot for a condominium in Naples was $389 per square foot in September, up from last month but down from the peak of $544 per square foot experienced last January.

MONTHS SUPPLY

This is one of the most revealing statistics to track since it combines the pace of sales with the number of properties available on the market. The months of supply indicator measures how long it would take for all the properties on the market to be absorbed/sold if sales continued at the past month’s pace and no new listings came on the market and around 6 months is a balanced market, below 6 months is a seller’s market and above 6 months is a buyer’s market.

The supply of single family homes in Naples held steady for the 3rd straight month at 4.1 months, down from the peak of 4.5 months in March and April 2023. The supply of condominiums also head steady at 3.3 months. Supply is up from all-time lows seen through 2021 but considerably lower than pre-pandemic averages of 7 to 9 months of supply.

HOMES FOR SALE

This chart shows a longer timeline than the others, stretching back to 2015 to show more trend history. At the end of September there were 4,052 properties on the market in Naples, with 1568 single-family homes and 1242 condominiums. The peak inventory in the last 8.5 years was at the end of February 2019 when there were 7,303 properties on the market in Naples and the historic low was at the end of December 2021 with 1,203 properties on the market.

NEW LISTINGS

There were 944 new listings added to the Naples market in September, up slightly from August’s 925 new listings. We can expect to see more listings coming to market now that we are getting closer to season and our busier fall market. Last year’s peak month for new listings was March with 1,399 new listings in Naples.

PENDING SALES

There were 604 pending sales in Naples in September, down slightly from August’s 641 pending sales but up a significant 26% from last September when there were only 480 sales. Pending sales tend to at their lowest levels in August/September timeframe and then peak in February/March during Naples’ high season.

TOTAL SALES

There were 591 sales closings in Naples in September 2023, up 6% over September 2023. March and May were the peak months for closings in Naples last year with 1,039 and 1,033 sales respectively.

AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET

Single-family homes in Naples that sold in September spent an average of 64 days on the market, up significantly from an average of 43 days on the market in September 2022 but still well below historic norms for the Naples market. Condominiums that closed in September spent an average of 55 days on the market. It’s worthwhile to note that prior to the pandemic, it was typical for properties to spend an average of 90 to 110 days on the market. SWFL is primarily a 2nd/3rd home destination so it often takes time for buyers to visit/revisit, explore all their options and eventually decide which community and home is the right fit for them.

AVERAGE PERCENT OF LAST SALES PRICE

The average amount of negotiation for Naples single-family homes closed in September was 4.2% below the last asking price (which is not necessarily the first asking price). The average amount of negotiation for condos closed in September was 3.7% below the last asking price. These numbers are getting close to the historic norm of an average of 4 to 5% of negotiation.

Southwest Florida & Naples Real Estate Market Reports

Each month our real estate newsletter includes previous months published market reports for Naples, Bonita/Estero and Marco Island.

• Naples Board of Realtors (NABOR) – August 2023
• Marco Island (MIAAOR) – August 2023
• Naples & Bonita Springs (Willam Raveis) – August 2023
• Bonita Springs/Estero (BER) – August 2023

Filter, view and discover Southwest Florida’s current market inventory (includes Marco Island, Bonita Springs, Estero and Naples properties).  Below I have focused on Luxury Homes in this month’s real estate newsletter.