Vance Realty Acquired By Prudential Florida

Continuing the recent strong activity of the Central Florida real estate market, Vance Realty Group, an independent real estate company that posted $214.3 million in sales last year, has been purchased by Prudential Florida WCI Realty for an undisclosed amount, according to the Orlando Business Journal.

A Plantation, Fla., company, Prudential Florida WCI Realty is a subsidiary / component of WCI Communities, a developer with strong community ties in Florida as well as other states. Since its inception in 1996, Vance Realty has closed on more than $750 million in residential and commercial real estate sales volume.

Barbara Vance, the company’s founder, will stay on as a consultant while her husband, Arnold Matyas, heads up the company’s commercial division.

The acquisition gives Prudential Florida WCI Realty a total of five offices in the Orlando area, and the Vance Realty was a logical and complimentary fit for Prudential’s growth, according to Rei Mesa, President and COO. The company will assume control over former Vance offices in MetroWest and Kissimmee, Fla. There are also plans to open downtown Orlando and Oviedo locations to complement an existing Windermere real estate office.

Prudential has more than 50 locations in the United States and more than 2,000 real estate associates throughout Florida. Without question, the Orlando real estate market is booming both commercially and residentially. Despite speculation that rising Florida home loan rates would cool demand this year, the central part of the state is showing no signs of dropping off.

The South Florida housing market, by contrast, has already shown declining sales. But experts say this is the result of its greatly overvalued prices at present, not the precursor to a long-term slowdown.