Real Estate in Detail
The Orlando real estate market saw an uptick in buyer activity in July, which brought sales out of the red after three months of precipitous year-over-year declines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reports the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association. The average price of homes sold in Orlando continued on its upward trajectory, while inventory fell to its lowest level this year.
"The big lull in closings* during April, May and June created an increase in transactions in July, which was actually 1% higher than July of last year," explains ORRA President Reese Stewart, RE/MAX Properties SW, who also notes low interest rates as a factor driving buyers. "Orlando brokers are reporting a level of buyer demand that continues to far exceed the supply of available properties. We can easily attribute any future drop in sales to an ever-increasing lack of inventory."
* Closings refer to the signing of deeds.
Real estate market indicators
Average Price
The overall average price of homes sold in Orlando (all types combined) in July is $270,000, which is 9.2% above the July 2019 average price of $247,250 and 1.9% above the June 2020 average price of $265,000.
The average price of single-family homes sold in July increased by 10.1% compared to July 2019 and now stands at $295,000. The average price of condos increased 5.1% to $145,000 and townhomes/duplexes increased 4.6% to $224,900.
The housing affordability index in Orlando in July was 137.74%, compared to 139.10% last month.
*An affordability index of 99% means that buyers earning the state-reported median income are 1% below the income needed to buy a median-priced home. On the other hand, an affordability index greater than 100 means that median wage earners earn more needed to qualify for a median-priced home.
The affordability index for first-time buyers fell to 97.95%, down from 98.92% last month.
Sales and stock
ORRA member brokers participated in 3,679 sales of all home types combined in July, which is 1.4% more than the 3,628 sales in July 2019 and 18.6% more than the 3,103 sales in June 2020.
Sales of single-family homes (2,920) in July 2020 increased by 2.4% compared to July 2019, while sales of condos (401) decreased by 4.8% year-on-year. Sobrados/townhomes/duplexes (358 in total) increased by 0.9% compared to July 2019.
Sales of homes in financial difficulty(foreclosures and short sales) reached 79 in July and are 27.5% less than the 109 sales of July 2019. Distressed sales represented 2.2% of all transactions in the Orlando area last month.
The average interest rate paid by home buyers in Orlando in July was 2.97%, down from 3.04% the previous month.
Homes whose deeds were signed in July took an average of 54 days to go from listed to pending (when the sales contract is signed) and an average of 39 days between pending and closing (when the deed is signed), for an average total of 93 days from listing to closing (from a total of 87 days in the previous month).
The overall stock of homes available for purchase in July (6,220) represents a decrease of 22.2% compared to July 2019 and 5.1% compared to the previous month. There were 32.7% fewer single-family homes; 11.4% more condos; and 22.8% more duplexes / townhouses / villas, year on year.
Future Indicators
Pending sales in July were up 8.7% year-on-year and down 1.5% on last month. New contracts rose 8.2% year-on-year and new listings rose 3.6%.
Figures for the Metropolitan Region
Home sales in the entire Orlando metropolitan area (Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties) in July were 2.1% lower than in July 2019. So far this year, sales in the MSA are down 13.6%.
The sales comparisons for each county are as follows:
- Lake: 6.8% more than July 2019;
- Orange: 5.2% less than July 2019;
- Osceola: 4.3% less than July 2019; and
- Seminole: 0.5% more than July 2019.