Orlando Real Estate

For the fourth month in a row the number of distressed properties and their impact on the Orlando real estate market appear to be holding steady. Of course new properties are coming on the market, but the number and percentage market share are remaining pretty stable. As of this afternoon there were 21,949 active listings posted in the MLS. Of that number, 1,606 are identified as bank owned properties. out of 8,299 total distressed properties. I identify distressed properties as those labled as 3rd party approval, pre-foreclosure, in foreclosure, short sale and bank owned. This may or may not capture all the distressed properties, but it is the best proxy I have. The important thing to note is that they make up about 37.8% of the active listings. As a percentage of the market, they have been between 37-38% since at least December.

Likewise, pending sales continue to rise each month as the backlog of short sales continue to grow. The Orlando Regional Realtor Association numbers show 4,897 pending contract with total distressed properties making up 3,119 or 63.7% of the pending sales. Again, this number has been consistent for several months now, and is actually a bit lower. Of the those 1,342 are bank owned properties or about 27.4% of the total pending contracts. Pending sales are the best indicator of future closings, and so far in March there have been 958 closed sales with a median price of $138,250. With a high percentage of homes closing at the end of the month I think this number will be close to 1,400 when the month is final. Of that 958 563 or 58.8% are distressed properties. Over 45% of the closed properties 432 are bank owned meaning only 131 or 13.7% are "other distressed". Other distressed are primarily short sales. These short sales make up about 30.5% of the active listings and 36.3% of the pending sales but only 13.7% of the closed transactions.

David Welch, Real Estate Optimist