Orlando Home Sales Drop 40%

The Orlando housing market saw August sales fall by 40.3 percent when compared with the same month last year, according to the monthly report from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
Home sales fell from 2,249 in August 2006 to 1,343 last month. So far this year, 12,455 homes sold, a drop of 37.2 percent over the 19,824 sold in the first eight months of 2006.

The median price of a home went down to $245,000 in August, a 2 percent decline from the $250,000 recorded in August 2006.

Florida condo sales in the city, meanwhile, fell 60 percent in August, from 360 in August 2006 to 143 last month.

Existing homes in Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties fell 39.7 percent in August, from 2,664 in August 2006 to 1,607 homes this past August. To date, 14,898 homes have sold this year to Florida mortgage loan borrowers, a 38.2 percent decline from the 24,099 homes that sold as of this time last year.

Osceola’s sales plummeted 54.4 percent, from 401 homes changing hands in August 2006 to 183 sold last month. Orange County sales dove 41.4 percent, from 1,356 to 795; Seminole sales dropped 31.2 percent, from 542 to 373; and Lake sales fell 29.9 percent, from 365 to 256.

The local Multiple Listing Service has listed 26,313 homes for sale, 295 of which were added to the market in August 2007. That number reflects a 19.59-month supply at the current sales pace and is a 24.8 percent higher inventory level than in August 2006.

Of the homes on the market, 19,708 are single-family homes, 4,337 are condos and duplexes/town homes/villas make up the remaining 2,268.

All homes spent an average of 108 days on the market before being sold. The average home sold for 95.1 percent of its original asking price.