Sales of High-End Homes Rise in Orlando
In some areas of the state, sellers are rarely receiving their asking prices and those applying for a Florida mortgage loan have control over what they pay for a house.
Other times, however, talk of a slow housing market is premature and simply false. This is especially the case when referring to properties priced at a million dollars. Such homes are selling with better success than last year in the Orlando housing market, for instance.
These sales jumped 17 percent in the second quarter of 2006 compared to the year-ago period, according to data released by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association and Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund.
The figures include the sales of new and existing homes, along with those sold through and outside of the Multiple Listing Service. The report indicates that 156 luxury homes were sold during April, May and June of this year, while 133 were sold in the second quarter of 2005.
As a group, the counties encompassed by the Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole) posted a 17 percent increase of home sales valued at more than $1 million for the second quarter compared with second-quarter 2005. In this bracket, at least, Florida mortgage approval is rarely a problem.
Lake County experienced a 55 percent decrease in the number of million-dollar homes sold during the quarter compared with a year ago; Thirty-eight percent more million-dollar homes sold in Orange County this quarter than in 2005; Osceola County saw the biggest increase in the number of big-bucks homes sold in the second quarter - a whopping 90 percent.
Speed of luxury home sales
In addition, million-dollar-plus existing homes are selling faster in 2006 in the greater Orlando area, according to ORRA’s figures. The average number of days on the market has decreased by 8.3 percent to 144 days in 2006 compared with 157 days in 2005. This is vastly different than other situations that involve rising Florida home mortgage costs, stagnant salaries and a slow-moving inventory.
The MLS-only figures also show the inventory of available luxury homes currently mirrors that of existing homes in all price ranges. Inventory for million-dollar homes to date in 2006 is up 85.1 percent over 2005 (1,194 currently on the market compared with 645 in 2005).
“Some of the increase in inventory can be explained simply by the increase in values enjoyed by Orlando homeowners,” says Orlando Regional Realtor Association President Beverly Pindling. “Homes that previously fit into a lower-priced category have simply been nudged into the upper echelons by their new, higher values.”
Of course, polls show that not everyone wants a large home. Many Florida home loan applicants simply want a reasonable piece of property and that’s where affordable housing initiatives are helpful.
