Naples market among healthiest in U.S.

By Naples Daily News staff report

The Naples housing market is one of the healthiest in the country, a new report by John Burns Real Estate Consulting shows.

The Irvine, Calif.-based national market research company said strong demand from second-home buyers and retirees have been pushing prices up 0.5 percent a month, according to the firm’s proprietary Burns Home Value Index.

Last year, flights to Southwest Florida Regional airport experienced their largest increase since 2007, the consulting firm noted, which generally correlates with high vacation home sales.

Tight inventory of homes for sale and strong employment growth —the highest for any city in the country in December at 7.7 percent—bode well for Naples for the rest of the year, report author Lesley Deutch predicted.

Responding to these favorable factors, builders are offering few incentives and discounts, she said in the report.

But though the real estate market is healthy now, Deutch added the firm is “carefully watching the market for signs of overheating.”