Monthly Newsletter

April 16, 2018 

Orlando home sales hold steady, median price rises in March

Orlando’s median home price rose 10 percent in February when compared to February of last year while sales held steady with a 1 percent increase, reports the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association. Inventory declined by nearly 9 percent compared to this time last year.

The overall median price of Orlando homes (all types combined) sold in February is $228,000, which is 10.4 percent above the February 2017 median price of $206,500 and 1.3 percent above the January 2018 median price of $225,000. 

Year-over-year increases in median price have been recorded for the past 80 consecutive months; as of February 2018, the overall median price is 97.4 percent higher than it was back in July 2011.

The median price for single-family homes that changed hands in February increased 11.3 percent over February 2017 and is now $249,250. The median price for condos increased 22.2 percent to $120,950.

The Orlando housing affordability index for February is 133.18 percent, down from 140.10 last month. (An affordability index of 99 percent means that buyers earning the state-reported median income are 1 percent short of the income necessary to purchase a median-priced home. Conversely, an affordability index that is over 100 means that median-income earners make more than is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home.)

The first-time homebuyers affordability index decreased to 94.71 percent, from 99.62 percent last month.

Sales and Inventory
Members of ORRA participated in 2,497 sales of all home types combined in February, which is 0.6 percent more than the 2,482 sales in February 2017 and 11 percent higher than the 2,250 sales in January 2018.

Sales of single-family homes (1,886) in February 2018 decreased by 1.0 percent compared to February 2017, while condo sales (316) decreased 7.3 percent.

Sales of distressed homes (foreclosures and short sales) reached only 139 in February and is 41.4 percent less than the 237 distressed sales in February 2017. Distressed sales made up 5.6 percent of all Orlando-area transactions last month.

The overall inventory of homes that were available for purchase in February (7,706) represents a decrease of 8.9 percent when compared to February 2017, and a 1.3 percent increase compared to last month. There were 4.3 percent fewer single-family homes and 25.1 percent fewer condos.

“As we head into peak homebuying season, those buyers who are best prepared to deal with the challenges of low inventory are in the better position to secure a home” explains ORRA President Lou Nimkoff, Brio Real Estate Services. “Buyers should be ready to move quickly on a home they want by, for example, having a mortgage pre-approval letter in hand and having pre-determined with their REALTOR® which concessions and contingencies they are willing and able to eliminate from their purchase offers.”

Current inventory combined with the current pace of sales created a 3.09-month supply of homes in Orlando for February. There was a 3.41-month supply in February 2017 and a 3.38-month supply last month.

The average interest rate paid by Orlando homebuyers in February was 4.39, up from 4.07 percent the month prior.

Pending sales in February are down 5.6 percent compared to February of last year and are up 15.0 percent compared to last month.

MSA Numbers

Sales of existing homes within the entire Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) in February were up by 0.1 percent when compared to February of 2017.

Each individual county’s sales comparisons are as follows:
*Lake: 12.3 percent above February 2017;
*Orange: 4.7 percent below February 2017;
*Osceola: 0.5 percent below February 2017; and
*Seminole: 3.7 percent above February 2017.