For Orlando realtors, the upward trend is set to continue as Orlando home prices continued to go up in January to $149,950, clocking an 18.1 percent increase compared to about $127,000 in 2012. However, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association (ORRA), the median price in January went down 6.28 percent compared to December.
Home sales and tax exemption
For most Orlando real estate agents, sales were a little bleak with ORRA members publishing 1,800 home sales, a drop-off of 10.67 percent when compared to January 2013. When compared with December, it is a 26.32 percent decrease. According to Zola Szerencses, the chairman of the ORRA, the decline in December to January sales is partly due to the annual December rush to close sales before the year ends.
Szerencses informed that the principal financial boom of homeownership is the homestead tax exemption and owners must possess their new home before January 1 of any New Year to claim the exemption in the New Year. He also said that the interest rates rise in 2013 has worsened both years to year and month to month decline reported for January.
Metropolitan Orlando
According to a report published by Florida Realtors, residential prices increased throughout the Central Florida region during 2013. In the metropolitan area of Orlando, including the Seminole, Lake, Osceola, and Orange counties, the average price of a home increased by 20 percent to $165,000.
Nearby Orlando, the sale prices of homes in both Polk and Volusia counties were more than the rest of the state. According to Orlando real estate agents, the median price increased 17.2 percent in Volusia to $124,250. Sale prices increased 16.2 percent to the median $122,000 in Polk County.
Unequal increase
In Orlando and its adjacent areas, nominal growth was showed only by Brevard County. Prices in that area rose by 6.8 percent and reached a median of $125,000 in 2013. The sales pace was slower in Metropolitan Orlando when compared to Florida. Total sales amounted to 27,381 units of single-family homes, about 6.4 percent increase compared to 2012. Other parts of the state showed double the number of sales.
The townhome and condominium sale prices of metropolitan Orlando exhibited bigger gains than the home prices of the area. The asking price for multi-family residences in the metro area increased 25 percent during 2013 to reach the median of $95,000. Orlando condominium prices were at their lowest about five years ago.
