Orlando Real Estate Report - Week of February 19, 2012

Orlando Real Estate -Single-family existing homes sales for the third week in February

• Sales of single-family homes decreased to 239 during the week of Feb 19, from 315 the week prior
• The median price of single family homes decreased to $125,000, a change of -0.2%
• The number of single-family home foreclosure transactions decreased to 55 last week, from 60 the week of Feb 12
• The number of single-family home short-sale transactions decreased to 76 from 105 the week prior
• Single-family inventory decreased by 154, and now sits at 9,704

Orlando Real Estate - Condos, townhomes, and villas- Orange Seminole Lake

• Sales of condos, townhomes, and villas decreased to 71 during the week of Feb 19, from 107 the week prior
• The median price of condos, townhomes, and villas increased to $79,000, a change of 5.3%
• The number of condo, townhome, and villa foreclosure transactions decreased to 21 last week, from 30 the week of Feb 12
• The number of condo, townhome and villa short-sale transactions decreased to 21 from 32 the week prior
• Condo inventory increased by 12, and now sits at 2,386

More short sales being closed on--now some lenders offer seller incentives

More short sales are being sold as lenders are getting more flexible than before. And some banks are allowing financial incentive to owners for choosing short sales when loan modification fail.  The interesting thing is that although a few owners are even getting cash to complete the short sale, the financial incentives  are random and infrequent.

Here are some of the lenders offering selling incentives for short sales as reported by USA TODAY:

• JPMorgan Chase went national with short-sale incentive offers last year, paying up to $35,000 in some cases.

• Bank of America is testing incentives from $5,000 to $25,000 in Florida to see if they should be expanded to more states. The Florida program began fall of 2011

• Wells Fargo’s incentive offers range from less than $3,000 to $20,000.

Short sales can save lenders money compared with the expenses involved in completing foreclosures. In states like Florida where foreclosures go through the courts, 50 percent of loans in foreclosure are more than two years past due.

In Orlando real estate, there were more short sales completed in 2011 than the year prior. Last  year, there were 6,981 single family homes sold as short sales in the Orlando Real Estate market. 

 

Orlando Real Estate Sales for January 2012 -

A sharp decline in the sales of Orlando area foreclosure homes contributed to a drop of 17.83 percent in overall sales for January, despite increases in the number of both short sales and normal sales. Orlando area foreclosure sales in January dropped by 57.61 percent compared to January of 2011, while short sales increased 23.69 percent and normal sales increased 19.92 percent.

There was a significant drop in Orlando condo sales, which are down 48.11 percent from January of last year. Single-family homes, in comparison, are only  down 5.26 percent.

Members of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association participated in 1,677 Orlando area home sales in January 2012. More than 36 percent of those were normal sales; short sales made up 37.98 percent and foreclosure sales made up 25.76 percent. By comparison, in January 2011 normal sales accounted for 24.84 percent while short sales accounted for 25.23 percent and foreclosures accounted for 49.93 percent.

The increase in short sales and normal sales — with the higher prices these sales types typically command — plus a nice increase in the median price of foreclosure sales, lifted Orlando’s overall median price 13.80 percent over that in January 2011 ($108,000 in January 2012 and $94,900 in January 2011).

However, the January 2012 overall median price is 9.24 percent lower than it was in December 2011.  

The January 2012 median prices of both normal sales and short sales dropped in comparison to January 2011: normal sales by 2.10 percent (from $143,000 to $140,000) and short sales by 5.26 percent (from $95,000 to $90,000). The median price of foreclosure sales, however, increased by 13.33 percent in January 2012 (from $75,000 to $85,000).

The average interest rate paid by homebuyers in January was 4.01 percent. This rate average interest rate is just two-tenths of a percent higher than the rate in December 2011, which at 3.99 percent was the lowest since ORRA began tracking the statistic in January of 1995. A year ago, homebuyers paid an average interest rate of 4.84 percent.

Inventory

Current overall inventory (9,258) of homes for sale in Orlando is down 35.70 percent compared to January 2011, and down 4.87 percent compared to December 2011. Single-family home inventory is down 36.35 percent compared to January 2011, while current condo inventory is down 26.46 percent compared to January 2011.

At the current pace of sales, there is a 5.52-month supply of homes in Orlando’s inventory (down from a 7.05-month supply in January 2011 and up from a 4.40-month supply in December 2011).

Affordability

The drop in overall median price has led to an increase in Orlando’s affordability index: the January index of 273.32 percent is almost 23 percentage points higher than December 2011’s index of 250.44 percent. (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.)

Buyers who earn the reported median income of $54,188 can generally qualify to purchase one of 5,600 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service for $295,188 or less. First-time homebuyer affordability in January increased to 194.36 percent from last month’s 178.09 percent.

First-time buyers who earn the reported median income of $36,848 can qualify to purchase one of the 4,113 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service for $178,425 or less. Affordability index aside, credit issues and the ability to qualifying for a loan is still an issue for many.

Orlando area by county- Each individual county’s home monthly sales comparisons are as follows:

• Lake: 0.67 percent below January 2011 (297 homes sold in January 2012 compared to 299 in January 2011);
• Orange: 24.47 percent below January 2011 (1,062 homes sold in January 2012 compared to 1,406 in January 2011);
• Osceola: 28.12 percent below January 2011 (363 homes sold in January 2012 compared to 505 in January 2011); and
• Seminole: 5.93 percent below January 2011 (365 sold in January 2012 compared to 388 in January 2011).

Orlando Real Estate Sales 2011 Year-end Recap

Orlando Real Estate Sales for Orange, Lake, Osceola, and Seminole counties:

Overall Orlando area real estate sales in 2011 were down by 3.48 percent over 2010. A total of 27,703 homes were sold in 2011 compared to 28,701 the previous year.

Orlando area sales of normal homes in 2011 increased 12.15 percent over 2010. Short sales increased by 20.93 percent while bank-owned or foreclosure sales declined by 27.35 percent.

The 2011 year-end year-to-date median price increased 1.29 percent to $109,900 compared 2010’s $108,500.

By year’s end in 2011, 34,670 homes were sold in the Orlando area while 35,140 homes had been sold by year’s end in 2010 (for a 1.34 percent decrease). Each central Florida county’s 2011 year-end sales comparisons are as follows:

• Lake: 3.26 percent above 2010 (4,343 homes sold in 2011 compared to 4,206 in 2010);
• Orange: 4.92 percent below 2010 (17,965 homes sold in 2011 compared to 18,894 in 2010);
• Osceola: 1.03 percent above 2010 (6,401 homes sold in 2011 compared to 6,336 in 2010); and
• Seminole: 4.51 percent above 2010 (5,961 sold in 2011 compared to 5,704 in 2010).