NAPLES, FLORIDA, USA
The city of Naples, on the Gulf of Mexico in southwest Florida, is home to nine miles of white sand beaches and an annual average temperature of 77 degrees. The region’s more than 260 days of sunshine each year, along with Florida’s low taxes, make the area enticing for luxury buyers and investors from around the world. But Naples has also been hit with a series of extreme weather events in recent years, most notably Hurricane Ian, which devastated the region and caused an estimated $113 billion in property damage when it made landfall in September 2022. While hurricanes are a fact of life in the state of Florida, the difference now is that these storms are becoming more severe due to a changing climate, according to experts. Even so, high net worth buyers seeking property in southwest Florida aren’t deterred, according to Ron Howard, EVP of John R. Wood Christie’s International Real Estate. “Many of our luxury buyers just want the Florida lifestyle – the sun, our pristine beaches, our beautiful weather and tax benefits,” says Howard. “They understand the risk of extreme weather, but it isn’t always top of mind for many of them. Additionally, they have the means to build homes with features that mitigate issues from storms.” In fact, Florida’s luxury real estate market tends to vault ahead following major hurricanes. A study in the Journal of Environmental Economics, which looked at nearly two decades of Florida property data, found that wealthier buyers tend to move in and push prices up following hurricanes. Furthermore, the study found that prices remain elevated for as long as three years after a storm. Local luxury sales data following Ian and Irma – a less destructive southwest Florida hurricane – seem to bear this out. The Naples Daily News reported that property values in Collier County increased 20% in the year following Hurricane Ian, while median home prices edged up 5% YOY. One year following Irma, which made landfall in September 2017, sales for homes priced at $2 million and up increased by 20%, according to the Naples Area Board of REALTORS ® .
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