An industry report from the last quarter of 2013 found that the state of Florida led the nation in cash sales for the year. Another more recent report released on May 7, shows that six months later too, cash is still king. Well, in the Orlando real estate market at least.
The residential real estate market of Metro Orlando was dominated by cash sales in the first quarter of 2014 – a claim all the top real estate agents in Orlando will confirm.
Over Half Of Orlando, Real Estate Buyers Prefer To Deal In Cash
In the last quarter, the sale of more than half of all the homes sold were cash deals. Standing tall at 56 percent, the percentage marks a significant increase from the number of cash deals struck last year. The percentage of cash-only sales jumped by four percent from the previous quarter and by a whopping 25 percent from the previous year.
Same time last year, cash-only residential real estate sales made up 31 percent of the total sales. Last quarter the percentage was 52 percent. The surge in all-cash sales was accompanied by a decrease in investment-based sales, however.
According to the report, the number of people who bought 10 properties or more, within 12 months, reduced from 8.2 percent in the last quarter to 7.2 percent in the first quarter of 2014. The number stood at 8.6 percent at the same time last year.
Osceola County led the four-county neighborhood with 60 percent cash deals on homes. The lowest in the group was Seminole County, with 47 percent cash deals.
Top Orlando Realtors Agree
Realtors in Orlando say the surge of cash deals in housing transactions could indicate strong buying sentiments from international buyers, like the Canadians. Cash buyers from up-North were also attracted by the cold winter this year, some real estate agents say. Such attention is largely unwanted because cash sales make it difficult for first-time buyers, who are typically reliant on mortgages, to compete in the buying market.
Further, the number of underwater homes was recorded to be significantly high in the Metro Orlando area. Underwater homes are those that are priced less than the mortgage owners owe on them. Another industry report has previously ranked Orlando fourth in the nation, in terms of financially underwater homes.
Though not good for the real estate industry, buyers could definitely make the best of the high percentage of underwater homes, which will typically cost them lesser than full valued homes.
