Winter Park, FL

Want to know what’s selling in your neighborhood? These statistics should give you a feel for the market value of your house.

Keep in mind that many of these sales are for Short Sales or Foreclosed/Bank-Owned properties. Under these situations, the Sold Price may be considerably below the Original List Price. Sorry to say, ‘distressed’ sales drag down the values of all the other homes in the neighborhood, whether or not they’re Short Sales or Foreclosures.

LITTLE JOHN	10/30/09	$347,900	$315,000	4	3	1965	Y
BANCHORY	10/28/09	$300,000	$230,000	4	2	2257	Y
BERWICK	10/13/09	$289,900	$268,900	5	2	1954	N
WHIMBREL	10/22/09	$285,000	$230,000	4	3	2366	N
KING ALPINES	10/17/09	$270,000	$235,000	4	2	2210	N
BUCCANEER	10/14/09	$225,000	$208,000	4	2	1843	Y
MIDDLETON	10/06/09	$225,000	$219,000	3	2	1338	N
LOCH BERRY	10/02/09	$218,500	$219,000	4	3	3034	Y
VALLEY CREEK	10/01/09	$195,500	$205,000	3	2	2028	N
PALMER	10/30/09	$305,900	$302,500	3	2	1855	N
CAVENDISH	10/29/09	$249,000	$250,700	4	2	2012	N

Properties have been listed and sold by various MLS members.

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

If you’re a homeowner who wants to sell your house, the following should give you a better understanding of the Orlando FL marketplace.

Remember the old adage that ‘real estate is always local’. Your neighborhood may be different from the neighborhood just down the road.

Homes in Orlando are selling. In fact, they’re selling so well that thousands of homeowners just like you are moving out and moving on. Last year, 1,000 homes in Orange & Seminole counties sold every month on average. In 2009, monthly sales are averaging 1,600 homes. This represents a 60% increase! If the house down the street can sell in this difficult environment, so can yours.

What’s the long-term outlook for the Orlando FL real estate market? Prices have leveled off in recent months. Even so, due to rising unemployment and foreclosure/short sale saturation, it will probably take several years — perhaps as long as a decade or more — for home prices to completely recover.

What about homeowners who are having difficulty keeping up with mortgage payments but can’t sell because their house is worth less than the amount owed on their loan? There are several solutions, but the way a Realtor^® can help is by selling the house as a Short Sale.

Don’t lose your home to foreclosure. These smart homeowners didn’t. Instead, they put their home on the market as a Short Sale.

Street	Date Sold	Original List Price	Sold Price	Beds	Baths	Sq Ft	Pool
DEPUGH	10/08/09	$219,000	$80,000	2	1	930	N
SALISBURY	10/23/09	$129,500	$132,500	2	1	1168	N
EUSTON	10/01/09	$230,000	$175,000	4	3	2296	N
INDIANA	10/28/09	$299,000	$220,000	3	2	1661	N
WOODCREST	10/23/09	$125,000	$125,000	3	2	1242	N
HEATHWOOD	10/05/09	$185,000	$130,000	3	2	1607	Y
LAWNDALE	10/28/09	$140,000	$135,000	2	2	1126	Y
BENTWOOD	10/08/09	$219,900	$180,000	3	2	1635	Y
SARONG	10/09/09	$575,000	$390,000	5	4	3733	Y

Properties have been listed and sold by various MLS members.

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

Because the payoff of a loan will be ‘shorted’ by a significant amount, the mortgage lender must approve a Short Sale. Handled properly, the likelihood of successfully selling your house as a Short Sale is high. Once the Short Sale is behind you, you can often get on with your life with hardly a backward glance.

A Short Sale is nothing more than putting your house up for sale in the usual manner, waiting for a qualified buyer just like any other home seller would, facing a few extra hurdles, filling out additional paperwork, waiting a bit longer for the closing to take place, and finally moving out and moving on.

Real benefits come with selling your house as a Short Sale. Among them are: 1) substantially reducing or completely eliminating financial liability, 2) minimizing damage to your credit rating, 3) emerging from bad credit quicker than you would with a foreclosure, and 4) having a sense of satisfaction that you’re taking care of the problem proactively and responsibly.

The following are the market sales statistics for Winter Park, Seminole and Orange Counties, Florida for October 2009. Winter Park is made up of the zip codes of 32789 & 32792. For purposes of this analysis we are only splitting the data according to single-family homes vs, condominiums, townhomes and villas.

A couple of definitions are in order. The median sales price means that 50% of the homes sold for more and 50% of the homes sold for less during a certain period of time - in other words, it's the midpoint of sale prices. So basically what this means, is that the median sales price is showing market activity in that it's specifically indicating which price range is more active.

The average sales price, as opposed to the median sales price, is the total volume of sold properties divided by the number of properties sold.

The sales to list price ratio is just that, you're dividing the average sales price by the average list price and coming up with a percentage that tells you how much of the list price the average homes sold for.

There needs to be a disclaimer here. These stats are only as good as telling us what it being purchased and happening at a certain period in time. Also, it needs to be fully understood that not only is real estate local, but it is hyper-local. What this means is that the trends that we hear about are overall. Let's put it this way, what's happening in one neighborhood, may not be realized in the neighborhood next door.

Additionally, these are only monthly statistics and to get a better scope of what is happening, you need to look at a longer period of time. More high-end homes might be sold in one month as opposed to another. By looking at a longer period, you will get a better overall picture. It is all relative and this has to be understood when utilizing these stats.

Single-Family Homes

57 homes sold during the month of October.

The average sales price is $324,110 with 100 days on the market.

The median sales price is $175,000.

The sales to list price ratio is 95%.

The most expensive home sold for $2.05M in Osceola Shores after 1363 days on the market.

The least expensive home sold for $44,900 after 216 days on the market.

The average sales price for the same period a year earlier was $279,879 with 131 days on the market and a sales to list price ratio of 94% and on 20 sales, an increase of 185%.

The month to month changes show an increase in the average sales price of 1% and a decrease in the median sales price of 1%. There was also an increase in sales volume of 8% with no change in the sales to list price ratio.

Condos, Townhomes & Villas

20 homes sold

The average sales price was $67,957 with 181 days on the market.

The median sales price was $50,250.

The sales to list price ratio is 94%.

The most expensive sold for $220,000 in Townhomes at Harper Place and was on the market 259 days.

The least expensive condo sold for $17,990 in The Colonies after 343 days on the market.

The average sales price a year earlier was $195,124 with 227 days on the market and a sales to list price ratio of 94% on 12 sales, an increase of 67%.

The month to month changes show a decrease in the average sales price of 23% and a decrease in the median sales price of 32%. There was an increase in sales volume of 5% with a 1% decrease in the sales to list price ratio.

For information on Winter Park and Seminole and Orange County real estate and Winter Park and Seminole and Orange County homes for sale in addition to Winter Park and Seminole and Orange County relocation contact Marc Grossman, your Winter Park and Seminole and Orange County Realtor @ 407-463-1034. Additional information is available for Seminole County real estate, Orange County real estate, West Volusia County and South Lake County.

To learn more about Marc and the services he has to offer, visit his website.

Marc Grossman, GRI - http://www.OrlandoHomes-4u.com/ - 407-463-1034

You can read Marc's other blogs Real Estate Morsels, Real Estate Off The Leash & Real Estate Cracker

Marc donates 10% of his net proceeds to Hospice of the Comforter.

Marc It Sold!

These statistics should give you a feel for what’s happening in the luxury segment of the Orlando FL real estate market.

Street	Date Sold	Original List Price	Sold Price	Beds	Baths	Sq Ft	Pool
TRISMEN	10/09/09	$2,795,000	$2,050,000	4	3	5033	Y
PHELPS	10/15/09	$1,799,950	$1,325,000	4	4	4461	Y
CYPRESS	10/30/09	$1,750,000	$1,450,000	5	7	5783	Y
FAIRFAX	10/23/09	$1,350,000	$1,125,000	3	2	3280	Y
DETMAR	10/09/09	$1,238,000	$910,000	4	4	3969	Y
KINGS	10/30/09	$1,125,000	$965,000	5	3	3668	N

Properties have been listed and sold by various MLS members.

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service.

A few tidbits of note ...

Homes listed above $500,000 often take longer to sell than properties priced at the lower end of the market. While many houses priced below $500,000 may take 6 or 7 months to sell, homes in upscale neighborhoods may take as much as 2 years to unload.

Keep in mind that many of these sales are for Short Sales or Foreclosed/Bank-Owned properties. Under these situations, the Sold Price may be considerably below the Original List Price. Sorry to say, ‘distressed’ sales drag down the values of all the other homes in the neighborhood, whether or not they’re Short Sales or Foreclosures.

What’s the long-term outlook for the Orlando FL real estate market? Prices have leveled off in recent months. Even so, due to rising unemployment and foreclosure/short sale saturation, it will probably take several years — perhaps as long as a decade or more — for home prices to completely recover.

What about homeowners who are having difficulty keeping up with mortgage payments but can’t sell because their house is worth less than the amount owed on their loan? There are several solutions, but the way a Realtor^® can help is by selling the house as a Short Sale.

If you own a Winter Park FL luxury home, how fast ... or s-l-o-w ... do you want to sell your house?

Given the current selling rate and the high inventory of luxury properties for sale in Winter Park FL, it could easily take as long as 2 years for buyer to come along.

Price Range (in Thousands)	# of Buyers in a 1-Month Period	# of Active Listings	Avg List Price ($000)	Avg Sold Price ($000)	# of Months Req'd to Sell Current Inventory
$500 - $749	3	60	$638	$564	24
$750 - $999	2	44	$899	$805	22
$1000 - $1249	1	9	$1,148	$1,106	18
$1250 - $1499	1	15	$1,381	$1,225	13
$1500 - $1749	1	11	$1,581	$1,298	17
$1750 - $1999	1	17	$1,946	$1,690	26
$2000 - $2999	1	13	$2,479	$2,166	20
More than $3000	0	12	NA	NA
All Luxury Properties	8	181			22

Data drawn from the My Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service during a recent 6-month period in 2009.

Since only 8 buyers on average purchase a Winter Park FL luxury house during any one month, it’s pretty clear there aren’t enough buyers to go around for those homes currently on the market, not to mention all the other properties that will come on the market in the weeks and months to come.

Almost all Winter Park FL homeowners who currently have luxury properties on the market will have to wait at least 1 year to sell their homes, with some having to wait more than 2 years.

With only 8 homes being sold every month — and not taking into account that more homes will come on the market every day — it will take 22 months on average for homeowners who want to sell ... to actually sell.

That’s a very long time to wait waste.

Since there’s plenty of competition and very few buyers, luxury homeowners must make some very important decisions once they jump into the marketplace.

When setting the initial list price ...

• Do you test the waters with a generous price and effectively eliminate many serious buyers from contention?
• Or do you set the price according to prevailing market value?

If your property isn’t getting many showings ...

• Do you stick to your initial list price?
• Or do you progressively and consistently lower the price until interest picks up?

If you keep the above choices in mind, you may very well beat the odds!