In the Know: Record low inventory not slowing buyers; Top Golf, Hoffmann deals
Phil FernandezAs we enter the third year of the coronavirus era in Southwest Florida, new homeowners have kept buying up what little quality housing remains available.
Inventory has hit "an all-time low," at least since anyone began keeping records of that data point, according to the Lee County-based Royal Palm Coast Realtor Association.
The number of Lee single-family homes for sale is down 67% from a year ago while condos dropped an astounding 83%, which translates to just 380 available right now of the latter, based on the latest it's released. At this time last year: 2,175.
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The lack of availability had led to a drop in closed sales, and that continued into February, but customers now are taking what they can get. For example, single-family pending sales are up 44% as compared to a year ago, a precursor to what's ahead in Lee.
With demand, the prices also keep surging in comparison to last February. The single-family median hit $415,000, a 26% pop while condos rose 43% to $319,500.
Buyers are digging deeper in Collier County as well, according to Naples Area Board of Realtors stats showing an overall median of $550,000, a 38% rise over last year. Its total inventory is down 72%.
Regardless of price, the desire to live in Naples hasn't cooled off.
NABOR had 43,032 February showings, which divided by the abodes in the inventory translates to 36 per home. For perspective, in 2019, there were 2.9 visits per place.
The data also shows dwellings selling within 23 days of popping on the MLS, and the percent of list price received was 100.6%.
Largest transaction: $24.5 million
But this might be the funkiest of the stats:
“Twenty-five percent of the homes that went under contract in February came back onto the market within 20 days on average during February,” said Jeff Jones, broker at Keller Williams Naples.
So even if the residence is showing as pending, get those backup bids in.
As we've been reporting, what's happening is buyers are putting offers on multiple homes so once they get a deal, they drop the rest and leave sellers hanging even if they might lose a deposit.
“Before the pandemic, we had a 3 to 5% back-on-market rate monthly," said Brenda Fioretti, broker associate at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty. "Things are different today. We are seeing some good success stories when backup offers are used.”
The month's biggest NABOR transaction at $24.5 million featured the 4,736-square-foot waterfront digs at 275 Gulf Shore Blvd. N.
And that's a teardown, folks, for the 1956 structure.
Reporter Laura Layden tied the purchase by an LLC to John O'Donnell, founder and CEO of the inMusic equipment enterprise. The selling trust has links to William Holekamp, the former executive vice president of Enterprise Rent-a-Car Co.
Golf deals, billionaire Hoffmann
We reported last month that Southwest Florida's newest billionaire, who had been largely focused on Naples, was planning to look more toward Lee County for expansion.
So this month's acquisition tied to his company makes sense for David Hoffmann, who made Forbes' annual list of the richest with his $1.3 billion, along with other newcomers such as pop singer Rihanna, who has collected $1.7 billion under her "Umbrella," ella, ella, eh, eh, eh.
The 19 acres acquired for $4.5 million are adjacent to the Old Corkscrew Golf Club he picked up six months ago in Estero, eight miles east of I-75. His son, Greg, is listed as the manager of the purchasing LLC.
But that isn't the biggest new Southwest Florida deal tied to the sport.
Colonial Boulevard's Topgolf complex, bright lights blaring on interstate motorists and all, just sold for $32.3 million.
Public records research of the LLCs involved traces the purchase to Dan Neary, founder and CEO of Miami-based Gorgon Capital Management, among other entities. GLF Fort Myers FL Landlord, the limited liability company that had owned it, was tied to what documents still show as the SunTrust Equity Funding investments group.
The super souped-up driving range complex of 72 hitting bays, part of a chain founded in the United Kingdom, opened in November after the pandemic delayed construction by about nine months. The original owners had gobbled up the 14 acres or so for $4.9 million in December 2019.
Looking to youth to fill future jobs
With the Florida job market in the state that it's in, developing future talent has become a priority for employers.
A couple of first-time events in Southwest Florida might help a little bit.
Saturday's Biz Kidz Expo feels a bit like a Shark Tank for children, ages 7-17, who will present their business ideas or sell their product or service to local companies.
Participants will receive some financial literacy and one-on-one coaching sessions with a mentor who will help them refine their ideas and presentations. And lads and lasses, paying close attention to your math teacher in school certainly can't hurt either.
Winning entries at the 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Naples gathering at New Hope Center, 7675 Davis Blvd., will receive up to $1,500 seed money toward growing their concept.
"This is the event to showcase those ideas and provide a successful starting point," said JD Ribali, program organizer and president of Naples-based Top Notch Connections. “Our goal is to expose kids to entrepreneurial opportunities and resources that are available to them.”
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Starting them early makes sense to Ribali who remembers, unbeknownst initially to his mama, going door-to-door selling cucumbers from her garden as a 7-year-old. Such experiences prepared him for the future as he also worked through his dyslexia.
The cost to register is $35, and that can be done at the BizKidzExpo.com site. More than 40 had signed up by early in the week.
Among the more than two dozen participating or sponsoring organizations are Florida Virtual School, the Immokalee Chamber of Commerce, Innovative Design Solutions, Dr. Kool Air Conditioning and Modern Woodman Fraternal Financial.
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CEO Summit to attract top leaders
The next generation of leaders could also come from an Immokalee Foundation confab that's connecting high school seniors with top dogs from industries that include growth and development, construction, architecture, law, hospitality and other sectors.
The idea is to give the students some insight into the business world and the opportunities available through "unique access to our inspiring CEOs as they share their professional journeys with our students," said Marie Rubenstein, vice president of philanthropy at The Immokalee Foundation. The "advice from the panel will be invaluable to our students as they move onto this next chapter of their lives.
The first CEO Leadership Summit next Monday includes Ryan D. Carter, president of Scotlynn USA Division; David Corban, president of David Corban Architects; Gail Markham, founder of Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Co.; Brain Rist, chairman of Rist Family Foundation; Michael Wynn, chairman of Wynn Family Companies; and Sandra Stilwell Youngquist, CEO of Stilwell Enterprises and Restaurant Group.
The 4 p.m. "event also provides a great opportunity for our community to network and meet some of the top executives and most ambitious young people in Southwest Florida," Rubenstein said.
Those general admission tickets available for members of the public who would like to attend at Grey Oaks Country Club go for $75 at the ImmokaleeFoundation.org/CEOSummit site.
“The foundation’s students represent the future of Collier County’s economy — as consumers and, more importantly, as business and healthcare professionals," said another participant, Scott Lowe, market CEO of Physicians Regional Healthcare System. "Their success will greatly impact the health of our community in more ways than one."
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez (pfernandez@gannett.com) writes In the Know as part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Support Democracy and subscribe to a newspaper.