Orlando Home Sales Skyrocket to Record Level
Orlando Home Sales Skyrocket to Record Level
The only thing hotter than the temperature right now in Orlando might be the real estate market. If you measure the health of Orlando’s housing market by Orlando home sales, it is ready for an Ironman competition. If you measure it by monthly price growth, maybe it’s more like a nice stroll.
Home sales in the core market of Orange and Seminole counties set a record of 3,435 sales, according to a report released Wednesday by Orlando Regional Realtor Association. From a year ago, monthly sales were up more than 20 percent, and up 10 percent from the month before. The record comes at the peak of the summer buying season — and follows several months of sales activity reflective of the boom days of 2005, when mortgages were easy to come by.
For the average home seller it’s an awesome time to sell, because there are so many buyers out there gobbling up the low inventory. Buyers have to be a little quicker on the draw, and the sellers can be a pickier about their selling price.
The record-setting sales activity has not signaled strong price growth. The median price for a house in the core Orlando market in June was $181,500, up about a quarter of a percent from May. From a year ago, prices are up about 7 percent, and well ahead of where prices were when the market crashed six years ago.
One factor keeping prices in check might be foreclosure sales. Only 55 percent of pending sales for the market in June were traditional Orlando home sales, and the rest were distress sales, according to the report.
Homebuyers who purchased in June had less negotiating power than homeowners who bought in recent previous months. The average sales price was 97 percent of the asking price — the narrowest discount in years. And Orlando home sales went under contract in an average of 67 days, down from 71 days in May.
It’s a seller’s market, but there is good news if you’re looking to buy a home. Homebuyers are taking advantage of lower interest rates and a steady rate of median-price increases, which assures that the market is healthy and secure from a rapid drop in home values.
The sales surge comes as mortgage-interest rates increased to 4.08 percent in June, up from 3.92 a month earlier. A year ago, rates were at 4.17 percent for a 30-year mortgage.
Surrounding counties are also seeing an increase in home sales. In the last year, home sales are up 10 percent in Lake County, 16 percent in Osceola County, and nearly 30 percent in Seminole County.
Sources: “Orlando home sales skyrocket to record level,” wftv.com; and “Orlando sets record for home sales,” Orlando Sentinel