February Newsletter

We are proud to report that once again The Skotak-Brown Group was the #1 team in our Downing-Frye Realty brokerage for 2019! We were the #1 team in 2015, 2017 and 2018. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our loyal customers for their trust by allowing our incredible team to help them in the buying and/or selling of their homes!

There is a lot of negative news out there right now between the Coronavirus and the stock market, but our activity for February hasn’t slowed down! We currently have seven pending sales, with five new listings signed just this month. Brokerage wide, we had over 300 pending sales for the month. Our closed sales volume is up 27 percent for the first two months this year over the first two months of last year!

2019 ended with a very healthy residential real estate market and is continuing this trajectory moving into 2020. Despite a 26 percent decrease in inventory in January 2020 compared to 7,773 properties in January 2019, overall closed sales rallied in January, especially in the luxury market. A 22 percent increase in January’s overall closed sales has our group optimistic that continued strong sales activity can be expected through the first quarter.

“Unlike the first quarter of 2019, home buyers should move quickly, as time is not your friend this quarter,” said Brittany Skotak of the Skotak-Brown Group, “especially those in the $1 million to $2 million single-family home market, which saw a 20 percent increase in closed sales year-over-year ending January 2020.”

“A year ago, many economists were predicting a recession by the end of 2019, but they’ve since changed their tune and the affluent buyer is listening,” said Skotak. “Many buyers may be rebalancing their portfolios and pulling money out of the stock market to buy homes because they fear they won’t make the same returns as last year. Purchasing power is bringing back home buyers to the Naples area luxury home market.

“We anticipate continued overall stability in the market but advise buyers to remain focused on limited inventory and the challenges it brings. “Choices are very limited,” stated Deborah Potok of the Skotak-Brown Group. “Right now, it’s more critical for buyers to focus on getting the property they really want as opposed to waiting for a better price, which is not likely to happen in this current healthy market,” Potok added.

If you are contemplating the sale of your home, there could be no better time than right now to list your home. Similarly, if you are a buyer now is an excellent time to shop for your dream home! Contact the Skotak-Brown Group today!