ORLANDO HOUSING MARKET REPORT – JULY 2018

Decline in Orlando’s sales, inventory help stabilize home-price growth

Prospective homebuyers will be cheered to learn that the rocketing rise in prices Orlando has seen over the past years stabilized this summer in the healthy single-digits. For the last three months, the year-over-year median price has increased between 6 and 7 percent.

The deceleration will help maintain a healthy housing market and protect Orlando’s affordability, especially as it compares to other cities around the country where prices are rising beyond the reach of buyers, explains ORRA President Lou Nimkoff, Brio Real Estate Services LLC. “In addition, while prices have been rising steadily over the past seven years they have not yet reached pre-recession peak prices. Orlando homes purchased now still have room for normal appreciation, which makes a house a good investment.”

The overall median price of Orlando homes (all types combined) sold July is $235,000, which is 6.8 percent above the July 2017 median price of $220,000 and 1.3 percent below the June 2018 median price of $238,000.

Year-over-year increases in median price have been recorded for the past 85 consecutive months; as of July 2018, the overall median price is 103.5 percent higher than it was back in July 2011.

The median price for single-family homes that changed hands in July increased 6.3 percent over July 2017 and is now $255,000. The median price for condos increased 10.4 percent to $127,000.

The Orlando housing affordability index for July is 126.95 percent, up from 124.88 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 increased to 90.28 percent, from 88.80 percent last month.

Sales and Inventory

Members of ORRA participated in 3,383 sales of all home types combined in July, which is 0.1 percent more than the 3,381 sales in July 2017 and 2.3 percent less than the 3,461 sales in June 2018.

Sales of single-family homes (2,653) in July 2018 decreased by 0.2 percent compared to July 2017, while condo sales (398) increased 2.6 percent year over year.

Sales of distressed homes (foreclosures and short sales) reached 121 in July and are 42.1 percent less than the 209 distressed sales in July 2017. Distressed sales made up just 3.6 percent of all Orlando-area transactions last month.

The overall inventory of homes that were available for purchase in July (7,525) represents a decrease of 16.9 percent when compared to July 2017, and a 0.4 percent decrease compared to last month. There were 15.3 percent fewer single-family homes and 14.8 percent fewer condos.

Current inventory combined with the current pace of sales created a 2.2-month supply of homes in Orlando for July. There was a 2.2-month supply in June 2018 and a 2.7-month supply in July 2017.

The average interest rate paid by Orlando homebuyers in July was 4.59, down from 4.61 percent the month prior.

Pending sales in July are down 18.5 percent compared to July of last year and are down 9.9 percent compared to last month.

MSA Numbers

Sales of existing homes within the entire Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) in July were down by 3.4 percent when compared to July of 2017. Year to date, MSA sales are down by 1.9 percent.

Each individual county’s sales comparisons are as follows:

*Lake: 11.5 percent below July 2017;
*Orange: 3.0 percent below July 2017;
*Osceola: 3.7 percent below July 2017; and
*Seminole: 3.2 percent above July 2017.

This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association and the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service. Neither the association nor MFRMLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the association or MFRMLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market. Due to late closings, an adjustment is necessary to record those closings posted after our reporting date.
ORRA REALTOR® sales, referred to as the core market, represent all sales by members of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association, not necessarily those sales strictly in Orange and Seminole counties. Note that statistics released each month may be revised in the future as new data is received.

Orlando MSA numbers reflect sales of homes located in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Lake counties by members of any REALTOR® association, not just members of ORRA.