Real Estate Activity in Detail
Homes in the Orlando area continue to sell quickly this fall, while inventory remains tight, according to a new report from the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association. Data from the September 2020 monthly housing report show fewer homes and higher prices than last year (September 2019), with a 23.3% drop in inventory and a 10.2% increase in the overall average home sales price to $270,000.
“Although spring is generally the busiest time of year for home sales, fall shows no signs of slowing down. COVID-19 changed the dynamics in 2020. We’ve seen mortgage rates continue to fall to an average of 2.74%, giving buyers additional incentives this fall. However, most of the Orlando market—for homes priced at $500,000 or less—still favors sellers, with so few homes on the market,” said ORRA President Reese Stewart of RE/MAX Properties SW. “If we were to sell all single-family homes priced between $90,000 and $500,000 in the Orlando area right now, it would likely take less than two months.”
Real estate economists generally consider a 5- to 6-month supply to indicate a healthy market with a balance between buyers and sellers.
Homes sold in September spent an average of 48 days on the market, down from 51 days in August.
Real Estate Market Indicators
Average Price
In September, the average price of single-family homes remained stable, rising by just $500 from August to $295,500. However, that figure was up 11.5% from September 2019, when the average price was $265,000.
The average price for condos showed a smaller increase, hovering around $140,000, up 5.8% from September 2019. For townhomes and duplexes, the average price in September rose 6.9% year-over-year to $229,999.
Sales and Inventory
Homes sold in September spent an average of 48 days on the market, down from 51 days in August.
ORRA member real estate agents were involved in 3 , 478 sales of all types of homes combined in September, a dramatic increase of 16.36% compared to last year. Sales fell slightly (1.7%) compared to August.
This decline marked a significant increase (19.4%) in the number of single-family home sales, but a sharp drop in inventory compared to last year. A total of 2,750 single-family homes were sold, and the supply of homes fell 34.6% to 3,986 homes on the market, compared with 6,102 during the same period last year.
For condos, inventory grew by 18.2% between September 2019 and September 2020, when 1,240 units came onto the market. However, the number of sales remained stable, falling from 400 last year to 399 this year.
More townhomes and duplexes came onto the market and were sold in September 2020 compared to 2019. The number of sales rose by 15% compared to 2019. Inventory rose 17.8%, from 633 last year to 746 this year. The median price, sales, and inventory all increased from August 2020 to September 2020.
In September, there were 43 distressed home sales (foreclosures and short sales), accounting for 1.24% of all home sales.
Future Indicators
The real estate market in the Orlando area shows no signs of slowing down, as pending sales have remained stable from August (5,467) to September (5,429). Compared to last year, there were 23.3% more homes with pending sales this year.
New contracts also increased year over year, from 2,757 to 3,400. However, they have decreased by 4.5% since last month.
[Pending sales and new contracts refer to transactions that have not yet been completed; therefore, they are not yet included in the total sales.]
Metropolitan Area Statistics
Tight inventory affected existing-home sales throughout the Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties). Year-over-year, sales fell 9.25% overall. However, all local counties saw gains in September 2019.
The sales comparisons for each county are as follows:
- Lake: 16.1% higher than September 2019;
- Orange: 13% higher than September 2019;
- Osceola: 10.8% higher than September 2019; and
- Seminole: 10% higher than September 2019.