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While the real estate market shows signs of growth for the first quarter of 2008, in comparison to 2007, there are several topics that have become commonplace of late.

First, the “I’ll be back” of buyers with visits planned in the off-season months to make their purchase for a property in our local area. One Realtor recently commented that this is the first time in 2 years that she has heard from her buyer base that they were coming back in the off-season months to purchase real estate. This thought is echoed by many Realtors in the community.

Second, let’s consider “the trade”. Trading one property for another can be a difficult task since the Realtor(s) need to negotiate the value and possible cash consideration on two distinct (or possibly more) involved in the transaction. Trades provide motivated parties with a means to an end, be it a desired beachfront condo, waterfront home, or a motivated seller in need of cash by trading down. Here are examples of some recent trade scenarios:

One trade scenario resonated by several in Fiddler’s Creek is to trade their coach home up to a single family home and vice versa. The owner of the coach home trades their property plus cash consideration for a single family home.

Trading between waterfront homes and beachfront condos has occurred on several occasions in the past few months. This may also entail some cash consideration by one of the parties involved in the trade.

A recent trade involved two properties plus cash consideration for a much higher valued property.

Third, let’s not forget the international buyers and the devalued dollar. As many international buyers enjoy the ability to buy more for their dollar, they are enjoying their visits to our area and increasing their presence as homeowners in the area.

Fourth, the “I’m waiting to buy” scenario. Pent up demand is felt by many in this marketplace. As the best view properties and good value properties come off the market, that leaves one less desirable property, possibly a dream property, for the waiting buyer. In some areas of the country where land is plentiful and there are high density construction projects in progress, this would not be an issue for the waiting buyer. On Marco Island, there is a fixed number of parcels with limited growth potential; therefore, when something comes off of the market in our area, there isn’t necessarily a duplicate property coming into the marketplace in the future to replace it.

As inventory levels continue to decline, down over 11 percent for the March 2008 in comparison to March 2007, so does the selection for potential Buyers. In our marketplace, there are pockets that show favorable trends. These can be found the following beachfront condos: Princess, Tampico at Cape Marco, and Les Falls. First, Princess has four closed sales since January 1, 2008 and one pending sale. At this time, there are no properties on the market in this building. Another beachfront condo with little inventory is Tampico at Cape Marco. Since January 1, 2008, two condos have closed and three are pending at this time. There are currently three units available in this building. Another condo is Les Falls with two pending sales in the past week and only two condos remaining on the market.

Other beachfront condos still have higher than desired inventory levels but activity is evident in the following beachfront condos:

South Seas Towers 1 and 2 with two pending sales and four closed sales since January 1, 2008.

Gulfview with two pending sales and five closed sales since January 1, 2008.

Madeira with three pending sales and four closed sales since January 1, 2008.

Closed and pending sales for the first quarter of 2008 are up 7.33 percent. The largest number of sales for the first quarter of 2008 can be found in beachfront condos, followed by water indirect homes, and coming up in third place is water direct homes.

Buyers are scooping up the “Creme de la Creme” properties in the area. As inventory levels continue to decline so will the buyers selection and negotiating power.

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Natalie Kirstein, MBA, Realtor, works for Premier Properties of Southwest Florida Inc at The Esplanade. She can be contacted at NatalieK@premiermail.net or 642-2222.