Orlando Housing Supply Continues to Drop in February as Prices Still Rise

The Orlando Regional Realtor Association is reporting this week that Orlando's housing market in February 2020 saw its home sales improve by more than 4% compared to February 2019, while the median price experienced a 6% percent increase. Inventory experienced a year-over-year decline of 17% and continues to be a mitigating factor.

ORRA President Reese Stewart points out that Orlando Realtors, like those across the country, anticipate an impact from the coronavirus situation on the real estate market but are unable to predict what that might be.

"For example, if buyer demand eases, we could see a positive influence on Orlando's critically low inventory levels while at the same time seeing a negative impact on sales," says Stewart. "On the flip side, if prospective sellers decide not to list their homes for the traditional spring/summer selling season, there could be a further decline in the number of homes available for purchase in the Orlando area."

Stewart also emphasizes that homebuyers and sellers can turn to their Realtors for a discussion of best safety practices related to mitigating the risk of coronavirus. Options include maximizing technology such as video home tours, or implementing pre- and post-showing sanitization routines for both buyers and sellers.

Median Price

The overall median price of Orlando homes (all types combined) sold in February is $250,000, which is 6.4% above the February 2019 median price of $235,000 and up 2.0 % compared to the January 2020 median price of $245,000.

The median price for single-family homes that changed hands in February increased 8.0% over February 2019 and is now $270,000. The median price for condos increased 6.2% to $145,500.

The Orlando housing affordability index for February is 139.71, down from 140.36 last month.

The first-time homebuyers affordability index decreased a fraction to 99.35 from 99.81% last month.

Sales and Inventory

Members of ORRA participated in 2,521 sales of all home types combined in February, which is 4.4% more than the 2,414 sales in February 2019 and 11.1% more than the 2,270 sales in January 2020.

Sales of single-family homes (1,959) in February 2020 increased by 4.5.0% compared to February 2019, while condo sales (326) increased 16.9% year over year. Duplexes, townhomes, and villas (236 combined) decreased 9.6% over February 2019.

Sales of distressed homes (foreclosures and short sales) reached 113 in February and are 5.6% more than the 107 distressed sales in February 2019. Distressed sales made up 4.4% of all Orlando-area transactions last month.

The overall inventory of homes that were available for purchase in February (6,825) represents a decrease of 16.7% when compared to February 2019, and a 2.9% decrease compared to last month. There were 19.9% fewer single-family homes; 11.1% fewer condos; and 7.7% more duplexes/townhomes/villas, year over year.

Current inventory combined with the current pace of sales created a 2.7-month supply of homes in Orlando for February. There was a 3.4-month supply in February of last year and a 3.1-month supply last month.

The average interest rate paid by Orlando homebuyers in February was 3.43%, down from 3.55% the month prior.

Homes that closed in February took an average of 58 days to move from listing to pending and an average of 36 days between pending and closing, for an average total of 94 days from listing to closing (down from a total of 98 days the month prior).

Pending sales in February are up 10.9% compared to February of last year and are up 20.4% compared to last month.

Orlando MSA Numbers

Sales of existing homes within the entire Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) in February were up by 2.8% when compared to February of 2019. To date, sales in the MSA are up by 6.9%. Each individual county's sales comparisons are as follows:

• Lake: 11.0% above February 2019;
• Orange: 1.8% below February 2019;
• Osceola: 10.0% above February 2019; and
• Seminole: 1.5% above February 2019.