Orlando Real Estate

Foreclosures are up, but just how many foreclosures have there been in the last few years of our boom market? If they are up 78% from last year, and there were 100 last year that means there are only 178 this year. That would be a drop in the bucket compared to the number of homes in our marketplace. I know the numbers are higher than this, and I know that Florida is in the top ten forclosure markets.

What is not reported by anyone is how the current foreclosure rates compare to foreclosure rates prior to the boom market of the last five years. The national average is one in 693 and Florida's is one in 593, but how does that stack up to pre-boom rates. By the way the headline reads "Mortgage Defaults Still a Threat". Still a threat to who? You mix national, state and local statistics, sensational headlines and quotes from people in Detroit which has little to do with our local real estate market.

The truth is that Orlando has one of the strongest job markets in America, and jobs equals houses. Interest raes are low, unemployment is low, home prices are slightly higher than the national average, but Orlando is a highly desirable place to live compared to average. The big story here is that professional investors have moved their money to the markets that did not experience the boom. Those markets will see a run up in prices, and many of them do not have economies and employment to support the higher prices.