• February saw another increase in sales activity with pending sales up again.

    “Conditions are aligning very favorably in Orlando for buyers,” says ORRA President Les Simmonds, L.G. Simmonds Real Estate Corp. “Local first-time buyers are particularly well positioned as a result of the new $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit, record low interest rate, and decreasing median price.”

    The sales of condos in the Orlando area have increased by 71.05 percent. A total of 195 condos changed hands in February of this year compared to 114 in February 2008. The most (93) condos in a single price category that changed hands were in the $1 – $50,000 price range, nearly four times the number (24) that were sold in the next most populated category ($60,000 – $70,000). Two condos sold for more than $1 million in February; none sold for that amount in January.

    Orlando homebuyers purchased 102 duplexes, town homes, and villas in February 2009, which is a 29.11 percent increase from February 2008 when 79 of these alternative housing types were purchased and a 10.87 increase from January 2009. The majority (22) of duplexes, town homes, and villas sold in January 2009 fell into the $120,000 – $140,000 price category.

    The decrease in median price drove the area’s affordability index to yet another record high of 169.17 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. The first-time homebuyer affordability has increased to 120.30 percent.

    See January’s Orlando Condo Market Analysis.

    For single family home data, head over to our Orlando Real Estate blog.

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