Orlando housing market closes out 2019 with slight increases in median price and sales
Orlando’s annual median home price for 2019 ($242,000) is 4.1% higher than the 2018 annual median price ($232,500) thanks to another 11 months of year-over-year median price increases, according to the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association’s year-end report. Only one month in 2019, April, posted a decline in median price.
Orlando home sales completed during 2019 racked up a final tally of 36,694, which is 1.8% above the cumulative sales total of 36,057 for 2018. For a bit of historical comparison, annual sales in 2018 were 3.2% lower than in 2017.
ORRA President Reese Stewart, RE/MAX Properties SW, sees the Orlando’s 2020 housing market continuing along a path similar to 2019. “Orlando REALTORS® expect high demand from buyers in 2020, but only moderate gains in home sales due to our chronic low inventory. Those same forces are expected to buoy median price gains at a decelerated but healthy rate.”
“Furthermore, we expect continued seller’s market conditions overall and particularly within the lower price categories, where lack of inventory is most significant,” explains Stewart. “Luxury homebuyers, however, have much to cheer about as data shows that inventory levels at the price point of $750,000 and above moves the needle firmly into buyer’s market territory.”
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December 2019 Market Recap
Median Price
The overall median price of Orlando homes (all types combined) sold in December is $249,700, which is 7.6% above the December 2018 median price of $232,000 and up 4.0% compared to the November 2019 median price of $240,000.
The median price for single-family homes that changed hands in December increased 5.0% over December 2018 and is now $265,000. The median price for condos increased 5.3% to $139,000.
The Orlando housing affordability index for December is 135.73% down from 141.87% last month. (An affordability index of 99% means that buyers earning the state-reported median income are 1% 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 decreased to 96.52% from 100.88% last month.
Sales and Inventory
Members of ORRA participated in 3,020 sales of all home types combined in December, which is 24.7% more than the 2,422 sales in December 2018 and 11.8% more than the 2,701 sales in November 2019.
Sales of single-family homes (2,401) in December 2019 increased by 27.7% compared to December 2018, while condo sales (294) decreased 2.3% year over year.
Sales of distressed homes (foreclosures and short sales) reached 103 in December and are 10.8% more than the 93 distressed sales in December 2018. Distressed sales made up 3.4% of all Orlando-area transactions last month.
The overall inventory of homes that were available for purchase in December (7,023) represents a decrease of 10.8% when compared to December 2018, and a 7.1% decrease compared to last month. There were 12.2% fewer single-family homes and 9.2% less condos, year over year.
Current inventory combined with the current pace of sales created a 2.3-month supply of homes in Orlando for December. There was a 3.3-month supply in December 2018 and a 2.8-month supply in November 2019.
The average interest rate paid by Orlando homebuyers in December was 3.66%, up from 3.61% same as the month prior.
Homes that closed in December took an average of 54 days to move from listing to pending and an average of 37 days between pending and closing, for an average total of 91 days from listing to closing (static from a total of 91 days the month prior).
Pending sales in December are up 6.9% compared to December of last year and are down 18.6% compared to last month.
MSA Numbers
Sales of existing homes within the entire Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) in December were up by 18.0% when compared to December of 2018. Year to date, sales are down 1.3%.
Each individual county’s sales comparisons are as follows:
*Lake: 6.2% above December 2018;
*Orange: 20.1% above December 2018;
*Osceola: 23.9% above December 2018; and
*Seminole: 18.6% above December 2018.
This representation is based in whole or in part on data supplied by the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association and the Stellar Multiple Listing Service. Neither the association nor StellarMLS guarantees or is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the association or by StellarMLS does not reflect all real estate activity in the market. Due to late closings, an adjustment is necessary to record those closings posted after our reporting date.
ORRA REALTOR® sales represent sales involving Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association members, who are primarily – but not exclusively – located in Orange and Seminole counties. Note that statistics released each month December be revised in the future as new data is received.
Orlando MSA numbers reflect sales of homes located in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Lake counties by members of any REALTOR® association, not just members of ORRA
