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Marty Manion joined the Naples Area Board of REALTORS (NABOR) as CEO in late 2015 and made a quick investment in the area. He and his wife, Patti, bought a 1,800-square-foot home in Naples that they share with their dogs, Shiba Inus named Abby and Cooper.

He didn’t want to wait any longer to buy because NABOR’s data shows home values continuing to appreciate and average days on the market declining. The overall median closed price reached $308,000 in 2015, up 14 percent from $270,000 in 2014. Homes spent an average of 78 days on the market in 2015, a 10 percent decrease from 87 days in 2014.

Manion moved from Pennsylvania, where he was executive director of the American Association of Meat Processors. He previously spent more than 20 years in staff and leadership roles with the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS. At NABOR, he follows retired CEO Mike Richardson, who headed the organization for 30 years. Manion chatted about his new role with the 6,000-member organization.


As a newcomer, how would you describe the spirit of people living in Southwest Florida? Everyone to a person can’t believe that they live in paradise. Even with the headache of the traffic, and trust me, compared to the Northeast, even season traffic isn’t that bad, they’re thrilled with the area. Business is good not only for Realtors but other industries.

What are you hearing from Realtors about their level of business? Everybody I speak to is saying the good times of the past couple of years [are expected] to continue in 2016. People are trying to keep up with clients. While there is inventory out there, there’s a lot less than in previous years. Properties are appreciating in value at a really brisk and good rate.

How do you want to serve NABOR members? As an association, our goal is to provide them with products and services that help make them more professional and help them. We create services that make them the expert in the industry in so far as trends, what’s available in the area, how to market their services, financing options, programs to get first-time homebuyers in.

Are you hearing concerns about a bubble? I hear a lot of talk about the bubble. Most people are thinking it’s going to be steady. I closed on my own house here [in January]. What I can tell you is different from between now and 2008 … underwriting is amazingly intense. It’s amazing how many times and how many ways they ask you to verify their finances. If there is an economic adjustment, people who were getting homes have already documented they can afford them.

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