We are now at the one month point past Hurricane Irma and I am sure you like most of our clients have questions such as is the housing market affected by Hurricane Irma? or, Has the value of my home dropped since the hurricane? and will I be able to still sell my home in Naples after the hurricane?
It is totally understandable that everyone has worries regarding the hurricane, with so many people having a second home here confidence in our market is being tested. I have to say that I myself had concerns about driving home after the hurricane passed, my family and I spent the time in North Carolina, we were going to stay, but my wife was discharged from hospital three days before it hit and my disabled sister was also a cause for concern, so we left then sat and watched from afar.
We arrived home three days after the storm hit Naples and although shocked at the number of trees without leaves and those that fell, we were also surprised that the vast majority of homes weathered the storm well, with so many of our family homes being built now to the highest hurricane standards, they stood the test and went through the storm relatively unharmed. Sadly some of the older homes in Everglades City and Immokalee were badly damaged and those areas are going to take time recover, my heart goes out to those affected in those areas.
Interestingly, as a company we are still getting the same number of inquiries about properties for sale as before the storm, our rental department has stated that they are filling up with winter seasonal rental bookings. Downtown the debris is mainly cleared, I cannot thank our local services and all the people who came to Florida to help with the clean up enough, over the last weeks I have personally witnessed the kindness and amazing community spirit that exists here in Naples. I have no doubt that the Naples Real Estate market will recover.
