- April 17, 2024
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This year, the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down just about every aspect of society — but the local real-estate market hasn’t been one of them.
In fact, the housing market in West Orange County — and in the Central Florida region as a whole — has remained hot all year.
Sales have been competitive despite economic uncertainty. And compared to August 2019, the average sales price has actually increased. Statistics from Stellar MLS — a multiple-listing service representing Orlando, Tampa and other areas of Central Florida — show that for the region, the average sale price for August was $319,146.
In West Orange County, it’s a seller’s market through and through. With inventory so low and demand high, there are more buyers than there are active homes for sale.
According to Realtor.com, Winter Garden’s current median sale price is $408,000. In Ocoee, the median sale price is $323,000, and in Oakland it sits at $470,000.
For the town of Windermere, the median sale price is about $536,000. And in Horizon West, it’s $407,000.
“I just think that we have such a growing area, there were still projects underway (pre-pandemic), and most continued,” said Jane Dunkelberger, a Realtor with UPSIDE Real Estate. “Schools are still being built, people are still getting jobs here, but it’s more of an industrial-service industry that I see continuing to rise. Unfortunately for theme-park industry workers, that’s kind of been on a pause.
“The commercial/industrial industry is still strong here and giving a sense of job security for those in that sector,” she said. “Even in our West Orange County area, we were just starting to see the rise of commercial real estate.”
In the face of a global pandemic, there has to be something motivating today’s home buyers. Multiple local Realtors believe there are two main factors playing into the competitive housing market in 2020: a shortage of inventory and low interest rates.
Dunkelberger said she believes historically low interest rates have played into the continued success of the local real-estate market.
“People feel they’d be in remorse if they didn’t take action to purchase a home now as opposed to once interest rates decide to go back up,” she said. “I’ve seen them as low as 1.75%. When … you see that these people are taking advantage of it — and you know how much the rent around here costs — you know how much they’re going to save. When you look at it on paper, you see that the interest rate is so low it’s making home ownership a reality for many of these hardworking families. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of it?”
According to the Orlando Regional REALTOR Association, in August, Orlando homebuyers paid an average interest rate of 2.85% — down from 2.97% in July.
Mark Hide, a Realtor and broker/managing partner at Clock Tower Realty, said MLS statistics are showing the current total sales volume up 19% compared to this time last year.
“Our inventory is low so we’re selling, the prices have been going up, and obviously the interest rates are still very low and have gotten lower, so I think that’s helped,” Hide said. “It took a little bit of time for it to sink in, but you’ve got people who are now willing to open their homes up to sell, and people are going out looking to buy.”
Tracey Forrester, a Horizon West resident and Realtor with Xcellence Realty Inc., said she believes part of the reason for the low interest rates is to keep the economy going in otherwise tumultuous times.
“They have to feed the economy some way, in my opinion, and I think real estate is one of the backbones of the economy,” Forrester said. “If people are losing their jobs and they’re paying these high interest rates, they can’t afford to stay in that house — therefore, there (would) be more foreclosures happening. So in order to avoid that, they have to keep interest rates low so that way people can afford to stay in their homes.”
Although one may think that there would be a lack of buyer activity during this time, ORRA officials say the lack of inventory is another contributor to the hot market.
“Starting off, no one knew what was going on, and people weren’t really going out, and we weren’t allowed to do open houses or anything like that,” Hide said. “Sales, for us, (are) up 15% over last year — the same period — and our agents are selling. The last two homes I’ve put up in Winter Garden within the last week, both have sold within one to two days.”
And with the median home price trending upward but inventory at a new low, the market remains competitive despite impacts from COVID-19.
Housing economists consider a five- to six-month supply as an indicator of a healthy market balanced between buyers and sellers. Hide said he has been seeing about a two-month supply of homes locally. ORRA officials said they are seeing even less.
“In fact, the availability of single-family properties within our most in-demand price ranges of $160,000 to $400,000 is startling — less than a single month of supply,” ORRA President Reese Stewart, RE/MAX Properties SW, said.
“The normal real-estate market hasn’t slowed down, and we don’t really see any signs of it slowing down,” Hide said. “Looking at the home prices … the average sales price for our market is up 13% from last year. It is still a very hot market, and it’s been like that for quite a while — it was like that before COVID — but obviously it’s just continued.”
Forrester said she was initially shocked by the strength of the real-estate market despite a pandemic. In fact, she said 2020 has been the most successful year in her six-year real-estate career.
“If you ask any Realtor out there, every Realtor is super busy, and the mortgage industry is just going through the roof right now between home purchases and refinances,” Forrester said. “Things are moving, and when you see a home that’s priced right in a great location, there’s multiple offers on it.
“I’m not an economist, but even past this election, I do see it going into 2021,” she said.
