Orlando Repo Homes and Short Sales Accounted for 63 Percent
Orlando repo homes and distressed residential properties accounted for 63 percent of all home sales in November, according to data from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
The large percentage of foreclosed and distressed sales pulled down the median sales price in November to $123,000, a drop of 5.4 percent from the $130,000 median in October and a sharp drop of nearly 26 percent from the November 2008 median of $166,000.
As the price became more attractive to more buyers, total home sales in November soared by more than 200 percent from 1,110 units in October to 2,238 units. Sales of pre-owned homes also soared by more than 200 percent to 2,816 units from last year in counties in the Orlando metro area, including Orange, Lake, Osceola and Seminole.
Members of the realtor association reported total sales of 957 bank owned homes and 463 distressed houses while a total of 818 non-distressed units were sold. The median sales price for non-distressed homes was $173,960 while the median sales price for units sold through the short sale process was $122,000. Meanwhile, the median sales price for repo homes in Orlando was only $84,000.
The drop in home prices pushed up the home affordability index in Orlando by over 12 percent to almost 209.1 percent in November. The Orlando index means that residents in the area who are earning the $52,706 median income can buy any of more than 9,000 homes for sale in Seminole and Orange counties at the maximum price of $278,049.
The affordability index for first time homebuyers also climbed up to 148.66 percent. This index level means that first time homebuyers earning the $35,840 median income can buy any of the more than 6,000 homes available for sale in Seminole and Orange counties at the maximum price of $168,065.
Pending sales by members of the realtor organization also soared to 8,633 units in November, more than 200 percent higher than pending sales in November last year. An additional 3,023 sales agreements were signed in November, a substantial increase from the 1,644 contracts signed in November 2008.
Sales of condo units soared by more than 300 percent, rising to 387 from 114 units last year. Almost 50 percent of the condo units sold were priced at only around $50,000. A total of 24 pre-owned townhouses, villas and duplexes were sold in November, with most of the units sold between $100,000 and $120,000.
