Orlando Housing Market: Still Searching for a Bottom

The slumping residential Orlando housing market is still searching for a bottom.

The number of homes and condominiums sold by Orlando Regional Realtor Association members in February fell by nearly 39 percent from the same month a year ago to 1,386, according to preliminary figures released Monday by the Orlando trade group.

At the same time, listings by local Realtors grew again in February, to an all-time high of 22,055. That represented a more than 15-month supply at the recent sales pace, according to the group’s estimate.

Not all the news was bad for sellers. The median price of the homes sold in February was $255,000, up 6.2 percent from the same month a year ago.

Annette Rodriguez recently bought a condominium unit in Kissimmee through Century 21 for $175,000, getting more space and a better deal than she thought she would when she began her search about three months ago.

“It’s a good price. I was going for a 2-2 and got a 3-2 for that price,” she said, snagging a third bedroom in addition to two bathrooms. Also, the sale price was $35,000 below the original asking price of $210,000, and the seller agreed to cover more than $5,000 in closing costs.

Realtors, trying to find bright spots in the ongoing slump, point to the unprecedented selection of homes and condos and the fact that sellers increasingly have to accept reasonable offers rather than hold out for unrealistic figures.

Glut alters strategies

Century 21 agent Christian Frazier, whose Orlando office handled the condo sale for Rodriguez, said the huge number of properties on the market gives investors more incentive to get back into the game - but this time, it’s longer-term investors easing back into the existing-home market rather than short-term Florida mortgage loan borrowers.

“There’s room to negotiate, and they have so much leverage,” Frazier said of buyers. “I’m looking for a fixer-upper myself, to hold.”

Frazier said buyers with cash can offer a lot less today for a home than they had to a year ago. But agents are struggling to make a sale, at any price, and more are leaving the field every day, said Sergio Saenz, a Kissimmee Florida mortgage broker-agent.

“A couple of my Realtors are looking to find full-time jobs right now. They have to pay the bills,” said Saenz, a former Century 21 Realtor who formed his own agency, Century Real Estate Services Inc., in Orlando last November as many agents were leaving the field.

Saenz said many people hunting for homes can’t qualify for a Florida home mortgage loan because prices have outstripped income growth.

He said the word many Realtors use these days to describe the market is “frustrating.” To generate at least some revenue, Saenz has been taking on more rentals with the idea that he will eventually get to handle a sale.

“When the market comes back, we want to be the agent,” Saenz said.