Central Florida Housing Market: It’s a Buyer’s World

From new home construction to condominium conversions, it is a buyer’s market as 2006 wraps up.

Realtors, buyers, investors and Florida mortgage loan applicants all came together at Orlando’s “Real Estate Expo” with wishes that the housing market will be hot in 2007.

Real estate developer Jerrold Kryscoff said: “Everything has cooled off a little bit. I think it is a correction period.”

Kryscoff is here selling the wonders of “Palazzo Del Lago,” an $800 million resort. He says condo-hotels are next big thing in housing.

“While you’re not using it, you put it into a voluntary rental. Basically mitigated some of the costs of your second home,” Kryscoff said.

Orlando realtor/Florida mortgage broker Gisela Smith believes the vacation townhomes she’s marketing near SeaWorld make a smart investment.

“It’s a great place to invest in real estate,” Smith said.

Although the realtors and brokers assembled here may not agree upon what makes the best real estate investment, a condo-hotel or a second vacation home, they do agree on one thing: the real estate market in Central Florida has definitely changed.

“They actually started winding down a year ago. They have slowed down a little bit,” Kryscoff said.

In the Orlando housing market, according to the latest figures from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, 1,597 homes were purchased and sold in November. This is compared to 2,423 in November 2005, and 1,897 in November 2004,

Real Estate Expo show promoter Paolo Sedri said, “Now consumers are doing the wait and see.