Orlando Homeowners Confident About Future of Florida Real Estate

Despite affordable housing still being a problem across the state - and foreclosures rising at alarming rates - Orlando homeowners are confident that fortunes will turn around in the next few months.

A new survey shows that 58 percent of Florida homeowners think the value of their homes will continue to rise over the next year, despite indications that the area’s unprecedented five-year housing boom is waning.

Seventy-one percent of Floridians polled cite “affordability” as the biggest obstacle to homeownership in the state, an 18 percent increase when compared with results from a similar survey conducted in 2005. Florida home loans are not easy to come by at the moment for many lower-income individuals.

Other obstacles cited include:

• The complexity of the real estate process
• Assembling a qualified real estate team
• The Florida home mortgage loan process

Residents are split in their views about whether now is a good or a bad time to buy Florida real estate, with 43 percent of Orlando residents surveyed slightly more likely to believe that now is a good time to buy a home than in regions such as Broward County (39 percent) and Tampa (42 percent).

More results include: Sixteen percent of homeowners cite the impact of a housing bubble as their biggest concern, with even fewer citing rising Florida home loan rates - 13 percent; depreciating home values - 5 percent; or becoming the victim of real estate fraud - 1 percent; as their biggest real estate concern in Florida.

“As the Florida real estate market continues to soften it is reassuring to see Florida homeowners generally optimistic about the next 12 months,” says Charles J. Kovaleski, president and CEO of privately held Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund.

Amen.