Home-Price Recovery in Metro-Orlando Inconsistent

Orlando Home Owners Could Make The Best Of The Situation

Residential real-estate property prices rose by an average of 20 percent, in the Orlando metropolitan area, from February 2013 to May 2014, says a new Orlando real-estate industry report. The report, which compared the sales of the same Central Florida residential properties over time, found price gains to be rather inconsistent over different communities. In Orlando for example, recovery has been insignificant.

Realtors in Orlando note that home prices in Orlando remain far below (approximately $100,000) the peak value. A common observation was that neighborhoods where property prices reduced the most, after the crisis of 2007, were the neighborhoods where the recovery was the highest.

Newer communities around Orlando bounce back the most

Interested in finding out the neighborhoods of Central Florida where residential real-estate property prices have recovered the most? You’ll have to look, not at Orlando but at the neighborhoods located at the periphery of the city.

Reports reveal that communities of Lake County and south Osceola County, witnessed price gains of at least 30 percent, in the period extending February 2013 to May 2014. Top Orlando realtors note that the said neighborhoods could register maximum recovery because they were hit the hardest during the housing crisis.

The Orlando short sales experts have another factor to add to the list of reasons for the inconsistent recovery – the impact of foreclosures. Newly developing communities in the Orlando metropolitan area were hit the hardest by foreclosures, primarily because owners of the homes that were constructed just before 2007, when the real-estate market crashed, possessed minimal to zero equity on their homes.

Such owners formed the lot of lenders going through short sales or through foreclosures. The rate of homes in these foreclosure-affected areas of Metro Orlando and Central Florida dropped the most. The recovery so has been more dramatic in areas that were hit hard by such foreclosures.

Impact On Buyers And Sellers

Real estate agents in Orlando note that the inconsistency in prices has made buying inconvenient and confusing for many buyers. Sellers, on the other hand, can use the confusion of the out-of-Orlando buyers to their own advantage.

When searching for a home in Orlando, prospective buyers are often coming across properties that are priced according to the sales in high-recovery neighborhoods and not the slower-rebounding communities nearby. Assessing the fair market value has become more difficult and prospective buyers are turning to the top realtors in Orlando for help.

For people hoping to sell/lease their properties, this may be a good time. When dealing with buyers from out of town, they can use inconsistency and confusion to price properties according to their own choice.

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Median Prices of Orlando Real Estate Rise amidst Higher Inventory

According to an Orlando real estate industry report, the housing inventory for the city saw a 42 percent hike in February, just ahead of the much-awaited spring selling season. The increase in inventory however is not without an increase in median prices of homes – a phenomenon that Orlando Realtors are attributing to increased demands for residential properties in Orlando.

Orlando Real Estate- high inventory – high demand – high median prices

The overall median price of homes in Orlando for February 2014 stood at $158,000 – 18.80 percent higher than the median price during the same time in 2013 when it was $133,000. With the increasing prices, there has also been a rise in the number of non-distressed property owners entering the Orlando real estate market, providing the inventory a much-needed boost.

The nearly 19 percent increase in median price, despite a 42 percent increase in inventory is because desirable homes in Orlando continue to attract multiple buyers. As a result, these homes disappear quickly from the open market, tightening the inventory.

Considering consecutive year-on-year growth rates, the city’s overall median price has increased 36.80 percent in 31 months, registering year-to-year gains throughout the period. Further, the median price for February 2014 was 5.69 percent higher than in January 2014.

According to Orlando short sale realtors, the median prices increased 18.30 percent for short sales and 12.23 percent for “normal” sales. Condos registered a 16.40 percent hike in their median price, compared to February 2013 while single-family homes registered a slightly higher increase of 17.69 percent.

Short Sales, Normal Sales, and Pending

In February 2014, foreclosures and short sales accounted for 34.27 percent of all home sales. Back in 2013, they amounted to 46.01 percent of the total sales. The number of sales closed in February 2014 was 17.26 percent lower than in February 2013; however, the figure exceeded the number of sales closed in January 2014 by 1.48 percent.

Realtors hold that the slower rate of closure is because prospective buyers, especially first-time buyers, had to face the challenges posed by tighter credits, increased rates of mortgages, and higher prices.

Compared to the corresponding value in February 2013, “normal” sales of residential properties saw a 0.72 percent hike in February 2014. The rate of closure for short sales, on the other hand, saw a massive decrease of 63.53 percent and the sales-closing of foreclosed properties decreased by 15.29 percent.

The number of pending sales in February 2014 decreased by 19.72 percent as compared to the same period in 2013. However, it was recorded to be 9.67 percent higher than the number of pending sales in January 2014. Further, the report also found that homes came under contract or closed, faster in 2014 than they did in 2013. Homes typically spent 76 days, listed on the market in February 2014 as against 84 days in February 2013.

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Orlando Home Prices Continue to Go Up

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.

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Orlando Real Estate Market on the Road to Recovery

 

When you examine the current Orlando real estate market  a few things are undeniable. The most important fact, there has been a huge decline in Orlando home prices since 2006. Secondly, the foreclosure inventory is still incredibly large. The third factor is that interest rates remain low.
There are two potential ways to look at these things. You could look at these facts and say that we are in weak real estate market and an economy that’s struggling. Orlando Real estate investors however,  will look at this scenario and see dollar signs

Currently, Orlando home prices sit around 35% below the peak price of 2006 and is starting to show some signs of a recovery. Foreclosure properties and REO’s are the biggest reason for lower than normal home prices. Even if you’re not in a distressed situation, that’s who you’re competing with. This will not change until there’s a demand for more inventory.

Here in Orlando, real estate is already showing significant signs of recovery. Banks are moving short sale files along a lot faster than they used to and inventory is moving.

There are many real estate analysts that say that we haven’t hit rock bottom yet. However, I believe differently. I think we hit bottom in Orlando about six months or so ago and we’re already on the comeback trail. I don’t think we’ll ever see what we saw in 2006 nor do I want to see inflated home prices.

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