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Recent storms and new law weigh on Marco Island condo sales

Updated: 26-10-2024, 05.26 PM

MARCO ISLAND — With twice as many condominium units as single-family homes, Marco Island is seeing the effects of a slow condo real estate market caused by past hurricanes, high interest rates and a new state inspection and safety law.

Total real estate sales were down 8% in August versus a year ago, according to the Marco Island Association of Realtors. Condos are staying on the market 120 days, up 79%, compared to 69 days for single-family homes, which is down 7%.

Marco Island resident Marc Creach is a loan officer at Wesson Group’s Cross Country Mortgage who covers Marco Island, Naples and Bonita Springs.

“The biggest issue with condos on Marco and like Naples, a lot of it, without a doubt, has to do with the past storms,” Creach said. “We’ve had Irma in ’17 and then ’22 of course, September of ’22, so the deferred maintenance aspect of it, like when a lender wants to see if there’s any, you know, maintenance that is being deferred.”

The law that allowed associations to defer critical maintenance was eliminated after the collapse of Surfside’s Champlain Towers in June 2021 that killed 98 people. A state law, SB 4-D, went into effect this year in July that was designed to ensure the safety of condo buildings. Engineering inspections are being required for condos of three stories and higher when they reach 30 years of age and again every 10 years after. Any future repairs must be fully funded.

“The biggest issue here is a lot of condos have deferred maintenance from the storms,” Creach said.

A June 29, 2021, photo of the rubble of the Champlain Towers south condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, in which 98 people were killed. The collapse has been blamed on a lack of adherence to building codes as a contributing factor for the collapse, prompting Florida Legislature to pass new safety inspection laws and reserve requirements for condo associations.
A June 29, 2021, photo of the rubble of the Champlain Towers south condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, in which 98 people were killed. The collapse has been blamed on a lack of adherence to building codes as a contributing factor for the collapse, prompting Florida Legislature to pass new safety inspection laws and reserve requirements for condo associations.

In Marco Island, the largest of the Ten Thousand Islands, people tell stories based on when a hurricane hit. Was it before Irma or after? Before Ian or after? Was it as long ago with hurricanes like Donna or Wilma?

On this island of 24 square miles, there are six miles of beaches and 100 miles of waterways. There are about 16,521 full-time residents, but room for as many as 60,000 during the winter tourist season. With more than 10,000 condominium units, there are twice as many condos than single-family homes.

The repercussions of Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricane Ian in 2022 are still being felt, with lawsuits against insurance companies that wouldn’t pay to completely fix the damage and some of that work still being completed. There are roofs and lanais just now being replaced after the direct hit of Irma. And many further damaged by Hurricane Ian.

“There are some challenges with the new (Florida) laws,” Creach said. “Marco as a whole isn’t seeing like a widespread problem, like what they’re seeing on the East Coast. … I’ve probably only seen one or two places that had issues so far.”

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