November 2009 Bonita Bay Market Statistics

November 2009 Bonita Bay Market Statistics
November 30, 2008 vs. November. 30, 2009

There were 5 closed sales in Bonita Bay this November 2009 compared to 3 closed sales in 2008. That is an increase in closings of approximately 66% for November 2009 vs. November 2008.

Total sales YTD is still down over 2008 by an average of approximately 59%. A total of 79 units have closed YTD compared to 134 units in 2008.

The average sales price in 2008 YTD was $847,596 compared to $717,598 2009 YTD; a drop of $129,998 or approximately 15.3%.

The average sold price of $717,598 to the original list price of $966,408 is $248,810 less per sale in 2009 compared to 2008. That is approximately 25.7% of the seller’s original asking price and approximately 12.6% of the adjusted asking price of $821,365 when sold.

The average days on market in 2008 January through November was 216 compared to 257 in 2009 for the same period.

As of this writing there are 184 homes for sale in Bonita Bay. The average list price is $1,069,283 that is $351,685 higher than the average YTD closed sale price of $717,598. That means that sellers, on average, are asking approximately 32.8% more than what buyers, on average, are willing to pay.

Based on the current inventory of 184 homes for sale and comparing them to the 79 homes that have closed in the past 11 months. That is an average of 7.2 closings per month YTD. It will take approximately 25 months to sell today’s existing inventory if conditions do not improve.
There are currently 3 Active Contingent contracts and 12 Pending contracts. These homes will either be sold or returned to the market as active listings in the coming months. Therefore the Active Contingent contracts and Pending contracts were not included in 2009 year to date actives or closed sales

NOTE: The source of this statistical analysis is the Sunshine MLS System. This is information believed to be accurate but not guaranteed!
*Average days on market are not often accurate due to the sellers and agents terminating or withdrawing a listing and relisting at the same or a lower price.

NOW THE GOOD NEWS!!!!!
The encouraging communication from your turnover committee (#32, dated December 7th.) is that they have reached an agreement in principle with The Bonita Bay Group is most welcome.
Although there are a number of items that remain to be negotiated and agreed on the committee states that they expect to resolve these issues in the next few weeks.

From a real estate perspective this, assuming the agreement will be ratified, could make a significant difference in the attitude and confidence that prospective buyers have in making an investment in Bonita Bay. The agreements ratification will open up our Bonita Bay market to more buyers but please keep in mind that sellers will have to price their homes based on past comparable sales over the previous 6 to 12 months if they expect to sell this season. If homes are not priced comparably buyers will not respond to over pricing and lenders will not lend on homes, even under contract, if they do not appraise.

Please call me for further in depth analysis on today’s market. If you or anyone you know is interested in buying or selling please feel free to call me. It would be my pleasure to discuss in confidence today’s options and opportunities.

Sincerely,

Michael

Office: 239-498-2888
Cell: 239-850-9805

SFH November 2009

High rise November 2009

Low Rise November 2009

Villa November 2009

Bonita Bay residents strike a tentative deal to buy their golf club

Naples Daily News December 7, 2009 by Laura Layden

Bonita Springs — Members of the Bonita Bay Club have swung into action.
They’ve struck a tentative agreement to purchase their golf club for $12 million, with $11.5 million coming from members of the new club.

Under the proposed agreement announced Monday, the developer, Bonita Bay Group, would pay the new club $500,000 for the exclusive right to market tee times at the Bonita East courses off Immokalee Road to nonmembers for three years, beginning May 1, according to the community Web site BayWatchNews.com.

The deal must still be approved by Bonita Bay Group’s lenders and by a majority of the club’s membership. It could fall through if at least 85 percent of the current golf members don’t join the new club.

The agreement was negotiated by Bonita Bay’s Turnover Committee after months of wrangling. The announcement came a few days after Bonita Bay Group sold its beach and golf clubs to members at Mediterra for $6.8 million.

Bonita Bay Turnover Committee member Cynthia White described the tentative deal as “fair and in our members’ best interests.”

“We’ve come to an agreement,” she said. “But there is still a lot of work to do.”
“At this point, our goal is to try to get it done as soon as possible,” White said.

The committee will be reaching out to members in the coming weeks to seek approval, she said.
“This is just the beginning of the process,” White said.

The sale would include 90 holes of championship golf, including three courses in the community and two nearby, two clubhouses, three practice ranges, 18 tennis courts, a swim center and a fitness center.

Not included is the marina. Its members are still trying to strike a separate deal with the developer.

Negotiations for the sale of the Bonita Bay Club have been going on for more than seven months. At times, it looked like talks might be over as the two sides clashed.
Over the past few months, some members have pushed for a mass resignation to try to force a sale.

“Both sides negotiated very hard at Bonita Bay,” said Brian Lucas, chairman of the Bonita Bay Group. “Because it’s a community that is 25 years old, there were a lot of subtleties and intricacies to work out.”

The size of the Bonita Bay membership makes it harder to come to an agreement, he said. The club has more than 1,900 golf, sports and social members.

“I feel great about it,” Lucas said of the proposed agreement. “This is a very significant milestone for our restructuring plan. It is very gratifying.”

In a fight to avoid bankruptcy, Bonita Bay Group has looked to sell off all its recreational clubs. It owes about $70 million to its lenders.

The developer still owns clubs in four communities. The others are The Brooks in Estero, TwinEagles in North Naples and Verandah in Fort Myers.

The developer is looking to sell the TwinEagles Club to an outsider. It hopes to sell the Shadow Wood and Commons clubs in Estero to their members by January and has reached an agreement to continue operating the club at Verandah.

According to BayWatchNews.com, Bonita Bay Group will keep the liability for refunds owed to members who resigned or downgraded their membership. The developer will create a $7 million fund to retire promissory notes.

Last year, Bonita Bay Group stopped honoring its policy of refunding deposits to resigning members, despite giving them promissory notes. That has prompted a flurry of lawsuits from members who want their money back.

Art Herman, who quit paying his dues a few months ago and is no longer a member of the club, said the reality is that this is just a general agreement.

“There are many details remaining to be worked out and the members have not approved anything yet,” he said. “Any finalized deal needs an 85 percent approval and that is a high bar to pass over.”

He said members are “cautiously optimistic” that a deal will be struck and soon.
“There are many details to work out yet and that’s where the devil usually resides,” Herman said.

The target date for closing the deal is February.