Orlando Home Sales: Second Best Year Ever

The might be housing market is cooling, but Orlando will finish 2006 as its second-best year in terms of single-family existing home sales, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

Through the end of November, ORRA members were involved in 25,371 transactions. While that’s 717 fewer sales than in 2004 and below 2005’s record 31,230 transactions, ORRA says it expects the sales totals from December to propel this year’s sales past 2004’s. This is one region where Florida home loan demand is NOT lacking.

In November, 1,597 homes changed hands, compared with 2,423 in November 2005 and 1,897 in November 2004.

The median price for existing homes sold in November reached $250,000, up from $249,900 in November 2005 and $182,300 in November 2004. The average sale price in November was $300,210, up from $300,078 in 2005 and $231,339 in 2004.

During the month, Florida mortgage rates rose one-half of one-tenth of a percent to 6.10 percent, ending a three-month falling trend. Nationally, interest rates hovered near 40-year lows, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Meanwhile, year-to-date condo sales rose 4 percent to 4,564 over 2005. However, a month-by-month comparison shows that November 2006 condo sales fell 44 percent to 245 from November 2005. At present, there are 3,483 active listings for condos.

Finally, existing home sales in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties fell 30.6 percent in November to 30,756 from 34,317 at this time last year. By county, Lake saw the biggest drop, 21.4 percent; followed by Osceola, 12.7 percent; Orange, 8.7 percent; and Seminole, 3.5 percent.

Most of the homes sold fell within the $200,000-$250,000 range (22.5 percent), with 17.7 percent in the $250,000-$300,000 price range. These represent reasonable amounts for most workers considering a Florida home mortgage in the city.