Homes sales rise as affordability improves
Homes sales rise as affordability improves
(January 12, 2009 – Orlando, FL) Orlando’s housing marketing for the fourth month experienced a month-over-month increase in the number of home sales as buyers responded to improved affordability, according to statistics released by the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association.
"Lower interest rates and more affordable prices are attracting buyers who have been sitting on the fence about the decision to buy," said ORRA President Les Simmonds, broker of L.G. Simmonds Real Estate Corp.
Members of ORRA were involved in the sale of 21.28 percent more homes in December of this year than last: 1,305 to 1,076. The current number of pending sales (homes that are under contract to purchase but are awaiting completion of the transaction process) dropped slightly from last month, from 3,326 to 3,265. For the past nine months, the number of homes under contract has increased month-over-month, with 109.42 percent more homes under contract in December 2008 than compared to December 2007 (1,559).
December 2008’s median sales price of $169,900 is a 2.35 percent increase over November’s median sale price of $166,000; however it is 24.49 percent below the December 2007 median sales price of $225,000. “With approximately 40 percent of the transactions involving foreclosures or short sales, the median price is being pulled down by homes sold at discounted prices,” explained Simmonds.
First-time homebuyers still have the best conditions since March 2004 to purchase a home in the Orlando area, as the first-time homebuyers affordability index in December pushed up to 101.09 percent. In addition, inventory of houses on the market is stocked with more than 6,961 homes in the average first time buyer’s price range of $145,987 or less.
Even with the increase in median price, the area’s affordability index in December continued its upward march to a record 142.16 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 $51,962 can qualify to purchase one of 11,806 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service (MLS) for $241,523 or less.
The area’s average interest rate was 5.40 percent in December 2008, down from 6.00 in November and the lowest for the entire year.
Homes of all types spent an average of 109 days on the market before being sold in December 2008, and the average home sold for 92.69 percent of its listing price (a decrease from November 2008’s 92.74 percent). In December 2007 those numbers were 113 and 92.75 percent, respectively.
The majority of single-family homes (182) that changed hands in December 2008 were sold in the $200,000 - $250,000 price range. On the far ends of the scale, 15 homes were sold for $1 million or more in December while 43 homes sold for less than $50,000 (a price category that saw an increased number of sales nearly every month in 2008).
Read on http://www.orlrealtor.com/Main/Main.asp?CategoryID=3&
(January 12, 2009 – Orlando, FL) Orlando’s housing marketing for the fourth month experienced a month-over-month increase in the number of home sales as buyers responded to improved affordability, according to statistics released by the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association.
"Lower interest rates and more affordable prices are attracting buyers who have been sitting on the fence about the decision to buy," said ORRA President Les Simmonds, broker of L.G. Simmonds Real Estate Corp.
Members of ORRA were involved in the sale of 21.28 percent more homes in December of this year than last: 1,305 to 1,076. The current number of pending sales (homes that are under contract to purchase but are awaiting completion of the transaction process) dropped slightly from last month, from 3,326 to 3,265. For the past nine months, the number of homes under contract has increased month-over-month, with 109.42 percent more homes under contract in December 2008 than compared to December 2007 (1,559).
December 2008’s median sales price of $169,900 is a 2.35 percent increase over November’s median sale price of $166,000; however it is 24.49 percent below the December 2007 median sales price of $225,000. “With approximately 40 percent of the transactions involving foreclosures or short sales, the median price is being pulled down by homes sold at discounted prices,” explained Simmonds.
First-time homebuyers still have the best conditions since March 2004 to purchase a home in the Orlando area, as the first-time homebuyers affordability index in December pushed up to 101.09 percent. In addition, inventory of houses on the market is stocked with more than 6,961 homes in the average first time buyer’s price range of $145,987 or less.
Even with the increase in median price, the area’s affordability index in December continued its upward march to a record 142.16 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 $51,962 can qualify to purchase one of 11,806 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service (MLS) for $241,523 or less.
The area’s average interest rate was 5.40 percent in December 2008, down from 6.00 in November and the lowest for the entire year.
Homes of all types spent an average of 109 days on the market before being sold in December 2008, and the average home sold for 92.69 percent of its listing price (a decrease from November 2008’s 92.74 percent). In December 2007 those numbers were 113 and 92.75 percent, respectively.
The majority of single-family homes (182) that changed hands in December 2008 were sold in the $200,000 - $250,000 price range. On the far ends of the scale, 15 homes were sold for $1 million or more in December while 43 homes sold for less than $50,000 (a price category that saw an increased number of sales nearly every month in 2008).
Read on http://www.orlrealtor.com/Main/Main.asp?CategoryID=3&
Labels: interest rates, orlando, real estate
posted by Southern Realty Enterprises @ 6:00 PM
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