Orlando Real Estate

I expect by Monday there will be more than 10,000 pending sales in the Orlando real estate market. Over 6,200 are short sales, so I don't expect to see 10,000 closings in the next two months. There are about 4,000 REO and "normal" sales, and you can expect between 50% and 65% of those to close between March and April. With more REO's active and pending, the title agents that handle them are getting behind. I have a cash deal delayed by a week, simply because they could not get everything ready in time. In the first two months of this year just over 50% of the closed transactions have been cash deals, but the financed transactions are still taking longer in many cases.

Even with the delays and additional hurdles, we are off to a pretty strong start considering the employment market has still not seen the improvement I had hoped for. Obviously, by the continued rise in pending sales buyers are still actively pursuing homes. Investors and first time buyers dominate our local real estate market. Investors are taking advantage of the low prices, and seeing 8% to 10% returns on their investment. Home buyers are taking advantage of low prices, low interest rates, and tax credits for first timers and repeat owners. Overall the state of Florida is starting to see growth again. After all, the weather and the beaches are still the big draw, and it shows with the number of pending contracts.

Orlando Real Estate, David Welch Real Estate Optimist