Orlando Home Prices, Sales Enjoy Increase in July

The Orlando Regional Realtor Association is reporting this week that Orlando's housing market enjoyed year-over-year increases of more than 5% in both median price and sales in July 2019, while inventory continued its steady upward trek and increased more than 6% compared to July of last year.

"The jump in sales shows that homebuyers are eager to take advantage of Orlando's favorable market conditions such as falling interest rates and stable increases in median price," says ORRA President Jeffrey M. Fagan. "The additional inventory that's become available over the past months has benefitted sales as well, although those seeking homes in the affordable price ranges are still challenged by scarcity and competition."

Median Prices

The overall median price of Orlando homes (all types combined) sold in July is $247,000, which is 5.1% above the July 2018 median price of $235,000 and down 1.2% compared to the June 2019 median price of $249,999. The median price for single-family homes that changed hands in July increased 4.9% over July 2018 and is now $267,500. The median price for condos increased 8.2% to $138,000.

The Orlando housing affordability index for July is 133.43%, up from 130.40% last month. (An affordability index of 99% means that buyers earning the state-reported median income are 1% 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 a fraction to 94.89% from 92.73% last month.

Sales and Inventory

Members of ORRA participated in 3,620 sales of all home types combined in July, which is 6.7% more than the 3,394 sales in July 2018 and 6.1% more than the 3,412 sales in June 2019.

Sales of single-family homes (2,849) in July 2019 increased by 7.2% compared to July 2018, while condo sales (401) increased 4.5% year over year.

Sales of distressed homes (foreclosures and short sales) reached 110 in July and are 9.1% less than the 121 distressed sales in July 2018. Distressed sales made up just 3.0% of all Orlando-area transactions last month.

The overall inventory of homes that were available for purchase in July (7,998) represents an increase of 6.3% when compared to July 2018, and a 0.7% decrease compared to last month. There were 3.8% more single-family homes and 16.3% more condos, year over year.

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 July 2018 and a 2.4-month supply in June 2019.

The average interest rate paid by Orlando homebuyers in July was 3.85%, down from 3.93% the month prior. Homes that closed in July took an average of 49 days to move from listing to pending and an average of 38 days between pending and closing, for an average total of 87 days from listing to closing (down from a total of 88 days the month prior).

Pending sales in July are up 7.9% compared to July of last year and are down 5.6% compared to last month. MSA Numbers Sales of existing homes within the entire Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) in July were up by 6.5% when compared to July of 2018. To date, sales are down 4.9%.

Individual county's annual sales comparable include:

• Lake: 9.5% above July 2018;
• Orange: 5.7% above July 2018;
• Osceola: 14.5% above July 2018; and
• Seminole: 0.1% above July 2018.