Orlando Housing Market: Take a Tour, Buy a Home

Organizers of this year’s metro Orlando Parade of Homes want you to stroll through the 140 or so homes and communities on display, take in the latest innovations and amenities, and maybe get a little excited about the possibilities.

But that’s not all they want. They hope you take out a Florida home mortgage in order to buy.

“Call this a buyers’ parade,” says Don Wetherington, owner and president of Wetherington Builders and chairman of the 2007 Parade of Homes. “We’ve got a lot more of everything.”

The showcase homes in the parade, which starts today and continues through April 29, range from multimillion-dollar homes to affordable attached town houses.

It’s the largest number of entries in the past three or four years, up from about 110, says Wetherington. Sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando, the parade features homes and communities in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties across the Orlando housing market.

Organizers attribute this year’s surge to the recent downturn in the housing market. In a sizzling market, builders don’t need the publicity that comes with the Parade of Homes, Wetherington says.

But now builders must sell, and homes are priced to entice buyers, he says. And Florida mortgage rates are still relatively low - at a little more than 6 percent for a 30-year fixed-interest loan.

Also this year, there are many more million-dollar homes, with 36 priced at more than $1 million. Half of those are listed at $2 million or higher.

The most expensive, on Pine Grove Road in St. Cloud, is priced at $6.2 million and was built by Munns & Munns Construction Inc. (Last year’s most expensive home cost about $3.5 million.)

If that’s out of your price range, there are 14 entries priced at less than $300,000. The least expensive is a $166,990 town house in Sanford.

Another reason organizers hope buyers jump on homes? Florida housing prices won’t stay down forever.

“Everyone has a ton of inventory right now,” says Ali Gorgone, special-events director for the parade.

Inside homes this year, expect to see aspects of green - or energy-efficient and environmentally friendly - building, such as Energy Star-rated homes. Gourmet kitchens, game rooms, theater rooms and high-tech homes with lots of computer-controlled automation are also popular.

Renovated homes will be on display during the Remodelers’ Showcase on Saturday and April 22. From rural Oviedo to downtown Orlando, builders highlight how to build a virtually new house within the same walls and with additions.

At least one of the 13 communities entered in the parade has a focus on energy efficiency and the environment. At Harmony in Osceola County, 70 percent of the 11,000 acres is protected and will remain undeveloped, and every house is Energy Star-certified, Gorgone says. The Energy Star standard means homes are about 30 percent more efficient than typical homes.

No homes will be built on two 500-acre lakes in Harmony. Only community-owned, nonmotorized vessels such as sailboats and canoes are allowed on the lakes. Five homes in Harmony are in the parade, including two built by Wetherington’s company.

Organizers hope the attention to an environmentally friendly community sends the message that builders care about the environment as they attempt to sell themselves to Florida mortgage borrowers.

“Usually people think of builders as ‘Pave paradise and put up a parking lot,’ ” Gorgone says. “Maybe this is good for us so people can see builders aren’t out to kill Florida.”

SOURCE: The Orlando Sentinel