Orlando foreclosure lists have been driving the prices of homes and condos down, based on reports from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association and other realtor organizations.
Home prices in Orlando hit their eight-year low median of $123,000, the lowest price level reached since March 2001 when the median was $120,287. Over the past 12 months, home price levels in the Orlando metro area, particularly in the counties of Seminole and Orange, have plunged by over 25 percent.
Realtors contended that most homes purchased within the past 8 years were bought at a price higher than their current price levels.
In November, the conventional sales price median dropped from October by three percent to $173,960; the median for short sales decreased by two percent to $122,000; and the median sales price for bank-repossessed homes plunged by 5 percent to $84,000.
Despite the obvious plunge in home prices, local realtors observed that troubled homeowners still have delusions about price levels. A buyer who has looked at a lot of homes for sale said one owner was still selling the house she bought for $329,000 at $200,000 even if similar houses have been selling for only $169,000.
Similarly, according to reports from the Florida Realtors and the National Association of Realtors, foreclosure lists in Orlando contributed significantly to the collapse of the city’s condo market.
In the third quarter, the median sales price for pre-owned condo units in Orlando has plunged by a staggering 56 percent from last year to only $50,600 this year. The price drop has been the biggest decline among all cities in the U.S. Only Las Vegas came close, with a median price drop of 46 percent during the same quarter. Across Florida, condo prices dropped by 34 percent.
David Burt, a condo unit owner in Winter Park, said that he bought his two-bedroom condo in 2006 for $167,000. He now hopes to sell it even for only $37,000.
The substantial price decline drove condo sales to record levels in the third quarter, bringing total sales to over 1,600 units, a stunning increase of 265 percent from last year and marking the biggest increase rate in Florida.
According to analysts, the oversupply of condos in Orlando was largely driven by record numbers of condo conversions from 2004 to 2007.
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