Existing home sales in the Orlando area rose by 59 percent in 2009 over the previous year, while last month, 52 percent more homes were closed on, as compared with December 2008, the Orlando Regional Realtor Association reported. There was also a significant jump in pending homes sales by 150 percent in 2009 above 2008.
Association members closed 2,194 homes in December, nearly double the 1,455 that were recorded in December 2008. According to the Association, 67.4 percent of the homes were bank-owned or short sales. The remainder, about 716 homes were “normal” sales comprising 32.6 percent.
There was an increase in the median price of 1.6 percent of all existing homes sold in December 2009 to $125,000 from $123,000, which was recorded in November 2009. However, the median price in December 2009 is a decrease of 25.4 percent compared with December 2008, which was $167,500.
Sales of existing homes within Orlando metro area –Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties–were up by 51.83 percent in December 2009 when compared to December of the previous year. Throughout the Orlando metro area, 2,736 homes were sold in December 2009 compared with 1,802 in December 2008.
At the end of 2009, 30,142 homes were sold in the Orlando metro area, compared with 18,131by the end of 2008, representing an increase of 66.3 percent. In 2009, about 12.5 percent of single-family homes that changed hands sold in the $200,000–$250,000 price range, while about 8 percent sold for $50,000 or less.
Regarding condo sales in the Orlando area, 409 condos changed hands in December 2009 when compared to 155 in December 2008, the Association reported. Condos selling for less than $50,000 comprised almost half of all condo sales. Eleven condos sold for more than $250,000 in December 2009, while 208 sold for $50,000 or less.
Source: orlandorealtor.com
