I was trying to come up with a play on words Sales Boats - Sailboats, but it probably just looks like I can't spell. So far in October we have 778 closed real estate sales with a median sales price of $131,750. It looks like we will have another month of 2,000 plus sales. That will be five months in a row of 2,000 sales and if the median price holds up it will be seven months with a median price hovering around the $130,000 mark. Of the closed sales 169 are short sales, with a median price of $128,900; 311 are REO's, with a median price of $82,000; and 298 are "normal" sales, with a median price of $175,000. Last month we saw the percentage of distressed sales jump up to almost 70% of the closed sales. If these numbers continue we will be back in line with the kind of numbers we have seen for most of the year, with about 62% of the closed sales being distressed properties.

The boat part of this story has to do with a conversation I had with a gentleman yesterday that has been called back to work by one of the boat manufacturers. Let's face it, nobody needs a boat, except maybe a professional angler or professional water skier. For most purchasers, a boat is a luxury item, a nice to have not a need. So when this gentleman was telling me that he was being recalled to his old job with a boat manufacturer, I got excited. If people are buying boats again, then people are at least feeling more secure in their jobs if not being promoted or given raises. Confidence is so important to economic growth, and purchases of discretionary big ticket items tells me there may be some confidence sneeking back. Of course don't read too much into it. He told me that they were only back up to about half their pre-recession capacity, but that is still triple where they have been operating.

Orlando Real Estate, David Welch Real Estate Optimist