There are blue skies and smooth sailing here in SWFL when it comes to Real Estate. If you are anything like me, this has been a question I have not been able to clearly or confidentaly answer over the past year. From the norm, I would tell my clients, "prices usually go up in season and tend to trickle down when season is over," BUT there was always a but..I didn't feel confident with this answer this year because prices didn't seem like they were going to come back down. We are THRIVING and a recession seems less and less likely.
“If you go back a couple of years, we were talking about the effects of Hurricane Irma,” Denny Grimes said. “If you go back a year, we were talking about the effects of blue-green algae and red tide. Now, you’re talking about how Naples is one of the happiest places to retire. You’re talking about how Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres are all top boom towns. There are a lot of different sources of positive publicity for Southwest Florida. Take the politics out of it, and interest rates are still at a three-year low. “We may be in for a record season, when we’re looking at January through April for residential sales. 2020 has the potential to be a better year than 2015. Of course, the entire Green Bay Packers coaching staff said that before last Sunday’s game. You never know what team shows up."
“There’s not a green light for sellers to start doubling or tripling their prices. But as far as real estate goes, there is not a cloud in the sky.”
Denny Grimes, president of Denny Grimes & Co.; Stan Stouder, founding partner with CRE Consultants and Randy Thibaut, CEO of LSI Companies, each will return as the presenting speakers at Market Watch 2020 will take place 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Hertz Arena in Estero. Tickets are available at $50 per person or premium tables for eight or 10 people at $600 or $750. They can be purchased at MarketWatchSWFL.com.
Stouder will be specifically addressing fears of a recession and how that impacts the market today. He also will spotlight rising values on Fort Myers Beach, the further changes the forthcoming Margaritaville resort will bring and his annual “What’s that?” segment on some of the next big commercial projects coming to the region. Stouder also said, “The broader pieces of what my portion will be, there’s a tension between people and their real estate decisions and the fear of a recession. The public has this fear of something coming out of the night and just collapsing and suffocating the market. The most frequent question that I get is, what if there’s another recession? I’m going to address that in what I consider a rather unique way. It’s not going to be: Yes there is. No there’s not. “I’m going to be speaking to the fear of future recession. I’m going to be speaking to that in the context of what to do if it does or doesn’t happen. There are three positions: I’ll be the smart guy in the room who buys everything at 10 cents on the dollar. I’m going to sell everything I own before it hits. The third position is somewhere in between.”
Randy Thibaut said, “We thought we would have a little grimmer look at 2020 but it is all positive. There were a lot of good signs in 2019 of how long can this vibrant business market and housing market that we’ve been in for nine years can continue. Traditionally, there’s real estate cycles. Up and then down. We’ve surpassed that. One might wonder, which we did, when we would start to see change. And it didn’t happen. 2020 is just going to get better."
“The actions that the fed took to keep the interest rates low and keep this robust economy has worked,” Thibaut said. “Another reason why: We have an influx of millennial buyers who are now entering the new home market. They’re changing their housing from apartments. And they’re in their mid-30s. There’s an influx of those buyers coming to the table who had not been very active in the market for the last decade. We’re seeing a lot of value-oriented baby boomers in two categories: Value-oriented. They’re looking for $250,000 or less housing. And luxury buyers on the super high-end who are relocating to Florida for no state income taxes. They’re economically benefiting from that, too.”
“There’s no signs of any significant imbalances in the housing and development industry that would cause significant market corrections in 2020,” Thibaut said. “Up or down. It’s steady as you can go. That’s a good outlook for 2020.”
Looks like we can all stop worrying. Many people that I talk to say a recession has to happen "that that is just the way it is after so many ups and downs in the market." Well, I couldn't bring myself to believe that. There is a lot of economic growth and a lot of positive things happening here.
Join me at Market Watch next Tuesday to learn more about what is to be expected!
Market Watch 2020
What: Annual real estate event that will analyze current market trends
When: 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25
Where: Hertz Arena in Estero
Tickets: Tickets are available at $50 per person or premium tables for eight or 10 people at $600 or $750. Purchase online: MarketWatchSWFL.com.
