The Orlando Regional Realtor Association released the latest statistics for the Orlando real estate market today and the numbers show a continuing trend towards a stable market with inventory levels hovering just below 16,000. The number of homes on the market has been around the 16,000 mark for the past 6 months.

One concerning statistic is the number of sales closed which dropped from 2,410 in December 2009 to 1,742 in January 2010. The months of December and January are not the most desired months to close traditionally and perhaps there’s a silver lining with the number of new contracts increasing from 2,984 in December 2009 to 3,579 fro January 2010.

Although the latest stats show a slight step back overall, they’re still showing signs marching toward a stable market which would be welcome to many of us that have been following the real estate market in Orlando.

A period of stagnation characterizes the second half of 2009 in the Orlando real estate market according to the latest statistics released by the Orlando Regional Regional Association. The number of sales haves been hovering around 2,000, the inventory around 15,000, and mortgage rates around 5%.

Let me tell ya, stagnation is a good thing at least for now. It means prices are starting to stabilize. If you’ve been following the market the past few years, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Real estate is cyclical which goes in the following order: boom, bust, and stagnation. This means the next cycle is a boom although we don’t know exactly when the next boom will commence. The last boom and bust occurred in the early 90’s with the S&L scandals and the market was stagnant for nearly a decade. Just as in those times, the federal government printed a lot of money to bail out the financial institutions and we all know this is a catalyst for inflation which we’ll have to deal with in the near future.

For now, things appear to be stabilizing for the Orlando real estate market and mortgage rates are about as low as they’ve ever been.

A glance at the 2009 real estate statistics for Orange County, FL shows a marked improvement in the market over the past 12 months. Most importantly the supply of homes currently stands at a healthy 6.4 months and the number of sales have hovered around 1,5o0 for the second half of 2009.

There’s still a heck of a lot of short sales and foreclosures on the market and I believe it’s gonna be a part of the real estate landscape for a while. It’s probably the last hurdle to overcome before return to a normal market.

Just a few years ago there was no such thing as foreclosures or short sales. The last time I remember there being a good amount of foreclosures on the market was 1997.

That being said, things are looking up and on progress towards a stable market here in Orange County.

The Case-Shiller Index numbers were released this past week and revealed 4 consecutive months of price increases meaning they’re going back up. We’ve all been so used to seeing this index say decreases that it’s a bit of a shocker.

Blitzer says there’s a real chance that we’ve turned the corner and finally done with price declines.

An interesting fact to note is that 70% of all the sales that took place were priced under $250,000. Do ya think the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is having an effect. Sure sounds like it is and I sure hope Congress extends it for a bit longer.

Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of weeks, but I’m back in town and back in the game.

The Orlando Regional Realtor Association just released their latest statistics for the housing market in Orlando and they just keep getting better with declining inventory, steady number of sales, and fewer expireds.

The inventory is down about 35% when compared to the same time last year and currently stands at 15,967. At the same time, the number of sales increased over 50% with sales jumping from just 1,394 a year ago to 2,151 this past month. The current inventory level stands at a little over 7 months which is typical of a stable market here.

Maybe we’ve hit a bottom.

Another encouraging little stat is the number of expired listings are down about 50%. 1,683 homes expired a year ago, but only 846 homes expired this past month.

Another sign of improvement.

I sure hope these stats are for real and we’re headed into a stable market. Heck, we might be there already according to these stats.

I don’t want to push it, but would increasing prices be asking for too much? I’d sure like to see an end to the short sale scenario so many homeowners are in.

The Orlando Regional Realtor Association just released the latest figures for the Orlando real estate market and things are looking up. The inventory of homes on the market dropped again to 16,361 from the 17,231 in the previous month meaning there’s just shy of 8 months of supply. A stable market typically has 7 to 8 months of inventory so it looks like we’re close to being in a stable market. Phew!

We even had a spike in buying during the summer which typically happens in this market, but has been absent for the past couple of years. Maybe that’s a sign things are getting back to normal. The first time home buyer tax credit may have helped but I’ll take any good news after the past few years.

Not only are more homes selling, they’re selling more quickly. The average days on market is now 93 days. It’s been over the century mark for quite some time, so more good news.

We’ll have to wait and see but it looks like the market is finally stabilizing.

All you home buyers I’ve been working with out there, I think it’s time. Just don’t think you’re gonna flip anything. Those days are long gone. As long as you have at least a 3 year and preferably a 5 year or longer time horizon, it’s a great time to buy and even better if it’s your first.

You guys have been nagging me about when the bottom is and it looks pretty good from these numbers.

There’s been a lot of talk of a shadow inventory that’s been created by the banks who has been releasing foreclosures at a more measured pace. At some point, these foreclosed properties will have to be sold eventually.

There’s no way of knowing how much shadow inventory is out there, the promising inventory numbers we’ve been seeing lately may be artificial.

Only time will tell if the improvement we’ve been seeing will continue, but this shadow inventory will have a dramatic effect on the market when they hit the market.

I hope there’s not much out there, but the rumblings I’ve been hearing is that there’s quite a bit.

Trendgraphix just released their latest number for Orange County Florida and their numbers tell a similar story of improvement like the numbers recently released by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

While prices are still declining, they’re falling at a slower rate. The number of sales on the other hand have risen 66% compared to the same time last year and resulted in 1,423 sales in July 2009.

The National Association of Realtors statistics show that about a 1/3 of all sales last month involved distressed properties so we’ll have to see if these numbers continue to improve when fewer foreclosures are on the market.

There’s also the last minute buyers coming into the market trying to capitalize on the first time home buyer tax credit which expires at the end of October.

Everything looks to be improving. A couple concerns that I have about the real estate market and economy in general is how the Federal Reserve will work to control inflation after printing so much money for the bailouts of financial institutions and automakers as well as how the government will deal with the Social Security dilema which we’ll see about 3 years down the road as the baby boomers begin to retire.

After the past few years, I’ll take this good news about the market. I just hope it’s not an artificial spike.

Nonetheless, it’s a great time to buy provided your time horizon is at least 5 years and preferably 10 years. The days of flipping houses will not be around for a long time and buying real estate should be a long term deal.

The Orlando Regional Realtor Association released their numbers for the Orlando real estate market today which confirms the trend toward stabilization with the inventory hovering around 8 months and about 30% more sales than the same time last year.

The most active price range was between $100,000 and $250,000 which raises the question of how much the distressed property market is affecting these numbers. The first time homebuyer tax credit may also be affecting these numbers. It expires at the end of October so we’ll definitely figure out how much of an effect it has on the market at that time.

Nonetheless, the number of homes for sale dropped from 24,742 a year ago to 17,231 and the number of sales increased from 1,472 to 2,141 in the same period.

The numbers definitely show improvement. Let’s hope we continue this trend.

The S&P Case Shiller Index numbers released today surprisingly reveals improvement in the housing market. The index is typically the most bearish of all the real estate indices, yet the numbers show prices increases in the past month. Keep in mind prices are still down year over year by 17.1%, but the numbers have improved for 4 consecutive months.

New homes home sales have also improved and increased by 11% in June.

Prices in Tampa which represents Orlando in the index remained the same last month. It’s been one of the biggest decliners and no change is a big improvement.

So are we at the bottom? My honest answer is I don’t have a clue. There may be some effects from the deadline for the first time home buyer tax credit expiring in October as well as the foreclosure market.

The lower price ranges have shown the most improvement and that means both the foreclosure and tax credit are affecting this market. I can report from recent experience that investors and first time homebuyers are coming back into the market.

After the past few years, I’ll take any good news about real estate. The Case Shiller Index is indicating that prices have turned in the other direction but it doesn’t take into the account how foreclosures and the tax credit is affecting the market.