Orlando Inventory Drops

The number of homes on the market in the Orlando area dropped by 158 homes during the month of November, which provides a baby’s breath of relief to the area’s record-high inventory. Every month so far in 2007 except for September – when inventory decreased by three homes – has seen more homes added to the market than subtracted.

The median sales price of a single-family home in the Orlando area held steady at $235,000 for the third month in a row, reports the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association. The median price for November 2007 is 6.0 percent below that of November 2006 ($250,000), and the year-to-date median home sales price ($245,000) is 1.21 percent below 2006 ($248,000).

The number of sales in the Orlando area declined by 47.66 percent in November 2007 compared to November of last year (963 to 1,840). The number of sales that took place in November 2007 decreased over the number of sales that occurred in October 2007 (1,090). Year-to-date sales for 2007 (15,602 through November) are down by 39.1 percent over the same period in 2006 (25,614).

The area’s average interest rate was 6.08 percent in November 2007 — which represents a continuing downward trend since a high of 6.60 percent in August.

The drop in the median home price to $235,000 that took place in September means that the area’s affordability index has improved by nearly 9 percentage points to 93.9 percent over the last four months. (An affordability index of 93.9 percent means that buyers earning the state-reported median income are 6.1 percent short of the income necessary to purchase a median-priced home.) Buyers who earn the median income of $51,218 can qualify to purchase one of 6,966 homes in Orange and Seminole counties currently listed in the local multiple listing service (MLS) for $199,750 or less.