Dream Homes on the Decline - but not in Naples
High-end real estate has taken a hit in recent years, but it hasn't suffered nearly as much as the bottom of the market. Multimillion-dollar homes continue to be built in the Naples area, especially near the waterfront.
Wealthy buyers don't have to fret as much about a bad economy and it's a better time for them to buy: they can find better deals on real estate and labor, while construction costs have fallen since the housing boom in 2004 and 2005.
- In the last year alone, many of the best available lots have sold in the well-to-do Port Royal neighborhood between Naples Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, making way for new mansions.
- In December 2010, an older house at 3940 Rum Row in Port Royal went for nearly $5.3 million. A few months later – after the house was torn down – the property resold for $6.3 million
- In July 2010, a 4,466-square-foot home at 4000 Gordon Drive built in 1962 sold for $9 million.Permits are in the works for a new beach-front mansion.
- A "remastered" West Indies-style estate at 70 Seventh Avenue South – one house away from the beach – recently fetched more than $6.7 million.
Some of Collier County's biggest homes have been built in the past four years. The biggest – at 32,000 square feet – is at 779 Gulf Shore Blvd. N., just south of the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club. It's owned by Neil Whitesell, a successful corporate CEO. The city issued a permit in 2007 valued at $10 million, but local Realtors put the value at closer to $40 million once complete.
Ten biggest homes in Naples:
3054 Gordon Drive in Port Royal.
13323 Rosewood Lane.
3400 Gordon Drive in Port Royal.
Source: Naplesnews.com