Why So Many Golfers End Up Staying

If you own a property in Southwest Florida, you have probably noticed that the market keeps a calendar. In the Naples area, 1,394 homes went under contract in March 2026, compared with 702 in September, according to the Naples Area Board of REALTORS. The season brings buyers, and a home that is prepared and priced well in November or December is in front of them as they arrive.

This week, I want to talk about why they come.

Golf Season by the Numbers

UNDER CONTRACT

1,394 Naples area homes went under contract in March 2026, compared with 702 in September.

GOLF COURSES

More than 90 in Collier County, with about a third open to the public or to resort guests.

JANUARY

A January afternoon in Naples averages about 75°F.

NOVEMBER 19 TO 22

The LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples.

Golf All Winter

Right about now, the dry season begins. It runs from November through April, and a January afternoon in Naples averages about 75°F. Think about what that means if you play golf. While much of the country is putting the clubs in the garage, you are checking tee times for Tuesday morning, then deciding whether the afternoon belongs to the beach.

A Course for Every Round

That is the part people do not quite expect until they have lived it. Collier County has more than 90 golf courses, and about a third of them are open to the public or to resort guests, so a round does not have to be a production. Some people play the same course all winter and know every green. Others like to wander, a new course each week, and never run out of places to go. Many courses also offer several sets of tees, so a round can be as challenging or as relaxed as you like. Bonita Bay Club reopened its renovated Cypress course in late 2022 with 7 tee options, from 4,500 to 7,500 yards, and that is how a lot of courses here think about the game.

More Than Golf

And golf is only one piece of the day. Mornings on the course, lunch on a patio, an evening walk on the sand. People tell me they come for a month and start noticing how much they are doing, and how little of it feels like effort.

A Championship Close to Home

It is also a good time to be a spectator. The LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship is at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, November 19 to 22. Watching the women’s tour play a championship round close to home is a very Southwest Florida kind of weekend.

From a Winter to a Way of Life

Many of the owners and buyers I speak with started the same way, a winter or two, a rental or a second home, a standing tee time. Somewhere in there, a few started asking what it would look like to stay all year. That is a perfectly good question to sit with, and there is no timeline on it.

Sources: Naples Area Board of REALTORS market reports (March and September 2026), Naples climate averages, Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bonita Bay Club, LPGA.

If you are curious about spending more of your winter here, or what it takes to make Southwest Florida home, I am glad to walk you through what the neighborhoods and communities around the courses are like. Just reply, and we will talk.