Amid Sales Slowdown, Orlando Home Prices Continue to Rise

"Like across much of the country, sales are sliding in Orlando as would-be buyers are either priced out of the market or are deciding to postpone their search until more homes come on the market," explains ORRA President Lou Nimkoff. "Fortunately for us, our housing market is bolstered by a healthy economy, prices that compare favorably to other major cities, and a quality of life that attracts an influx of new residents by the thousands each year. In addition, our market benefits from international homebuyers who look to Orlando for investment and vacation properties."

The overall median price of Orlando homes (all types combined) sold in August is $231,000, which is 2.7 percent above the August 2017 median price of $225,000 and 1.7 percent below the July 2018 median price of $235,000.

Year-over-year increases in median price have been recorded for the past 86 consecutive months; as of August 2018, the overall median price is 100.0 percent higher than it was back in July 2011.

The median price for single-family homes that changed hands in August increased 4.9 percent over August 2017 and is now $255,000. The median price for condos increased 12.0 percent to $125,975.

The Orlando housing affordability index for August is 129.58 percent, up from 126.95 last month. (An affordability index of 99 percent means that buyers earning the state-reported median income are 1 percent short of the income necessary to purchase a median-priced home. Conversely, an affordability index that is over 100 means that median-income earners make more than is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home.)

The first-time homebuyers affordability index increased to 92.15 percent, from 90.28 percent last month.

Sales and Inventory

Members of ORRA participated in 3,374 sales of all home types combined in August, which is 5.8 percent less than the 3,580 sales in August 2017 and 0.6 percent less than the 3,394 sales in July 2018.

Sales of single-family homes (2,583) in August 2018 decreased by 6.7 percent compared to August 2017, while condo sales (440) increased 3.3 percent year over year.

Sales of distressed homes (foreclosures and short sales) reached 121 in August and are 40.7 percent less than the 204 distressed sales in August 2017. Distressed sales made up just 3.6 percent of all Orlando-area transactions last month.

The overall inventory of homes that were available for purchase in August (7,808) represents a decrease of 11.6 percent when compared to August 2017, and a 3.8 percent increase compared to last month. There were 10.2 percent fewer single-family homes and 8.5 percent fewer condos.

Current inventory combined with the current pace of sales created a 2.3-month supply of homes in Orlando for August. There was a 2.2-month supply in July 2018 and a 2.5-month supply in August 2017.

The average interest rate paid by Orlando homebuyers in August was 4.57, down from 4.59 percent the month prior.

Homes that closed in August took an average of 49 days to move from listing to pending, and took an average of 85 days from listing to closing.

Pending sales in August are down 21.4 percent compared to August of last year and are down 6.1 percent compared to last month.

MSA Numbers

Sales of existing homes within the entire Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) in

August were down by 8.4 percent when compared to August of 2017. Year to date, MSA sales are down by 2.8 percent. Each individual county's sales comparisons are as follows:

Lake: 3.0 percent below August 2017;
Orange: 9.8 percent below August 2017;
Osceola: 12.8 percent below August 2017; and
Seminole: 5.7 below above August 2017.