How Can Orlando Sellers Get a Bite as Home Buying Gets Costlier?

Buying a home in Orlando continues to get more expensive, a food for thought for homeowners planning to sell their properties just at the right price levels.

From January to March this year, there has been an uptick in the median sales price for existing homes in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metropolitan statistical area (MSA). The price gains on both single family homes, as our tables below indicate, are quite strong.

For single family homes, the price appreciation was strongest at nearly 12 percent in February. January, on the other hand, provided a strong momentum at the start of the 2017 first quarter with a 16 percent advance in prices.

Sales Up in First Quarter

The robust advance in prices, however, seems not driving buyers away, a trend that should cheer home sellers. Those with an eye for a fast home sale especially would be happy to note that sales registered steady increases from January to March in the Orlando MSA. The sales gain for both housing types were strongest in March with a 12.8 percent uptick for single family homes and an 11.6 percent rise for condos.

Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties)*

Single Family Homes

Month	Closed Sales	Y/Y % Change	Median Sale Price	Y/Y % Change
January	2,061	4.9%	$222,000	8.3%
February	2,232	2.2%	$225,000	11.9%
March	3,201	12.8%	$238,000	10.7%

Townhouses and Condos

Month	Closed Sales	Y/Y % Change	Median Sale Price	Y/Y % Change
January	581	7.6%	$130,000	16.0%
February	682	5.6%	$135,000	9.1%
March	849	11.6%	$142,000	13.6%

*statistics publicly available from Florida Realtors’ website:
http://www.floridarealtors.org/ResearchAndStatistics/Florida-Market-Reports/Index.cfm

Orlando Home Stock Lean

A lean stock of available homes on the local markets as well as well as statewide appears to be driving sales these days. In Orlando alone, the regional realtor association reported that March home inventory plunged to just a 2.48 months’ supply, the lowest in nearly four years. This level is well under the six-month supply that most economists consider as a balanced level favoring neither seller nor buyer on market pricing.

Price appreciation within Orlando is in tempo with the upswing in the entire MSA. Overall median sales price in the city for March rose 11.3 percent to $217,000 from the median price of $195,000 a year earlier.

Notably, Orlando’s sales of single-family homes in March increased by 10.6 percent to 2,707 units compared to the similar month last year. Condo sales in the city increased 18.4 percent to 405 units during the same comparative period.

Look Out for Competing New Builds

These rosy statistics indeed are good indicators that the market is now more hospitable to sellers. But don’t get carried away, as there is the quality of the competition to be considered in the market, vibrant as it is.

One spoiler that could stymie individual sellers, particularly those selling pre-owned residences, is the rising inventory of new homes becoming available on the market. The big developers, keen on boosting profits, are also eyeing to fill in quickly the slim inventory of available homes on the market.

A recent research by Metrostudy showed that new-home construction in Metro Orlando has spiked by 25 percent. It is a no-brainer, that newly built homes have a decisive market advantage versus resale properties, more so now that the gap in pricing between resale and new home pricing is narrowing a bit, as per Metrostudy.

Check Out Opportunities Here

But still, there are tremendous selling opportunities now available on the market. The trick is to partner with real estate professionals who have a keen understanding of the ins and outs of selling in any market.

Call us anytime at 866-886-5345 or fill out our form. We buy homes not only in the Orlando MSA but all over Florida. We can walk you through a home sale that will deliver the most out of your property.