Despite the challenges in 2020, demand for housing across Central Florida continued to surge at historic proportions leading to a 9.1% increase in the overall price of homes (all types) from 2019 to 2020 & a 14% increase during the 2-year period from 2018 to 2020. Since 2018, the median home value has risen from $232,500 to $265,000. In spite of the pandemic lockdowns, home sales in 2020 still managed to surpass 2019 with a 1/2% increase with 36,871 homes in 2020 versus 36,707 in 2019. A story of dwindling inventory: From December 2019 to December 2020, total inventory has plummeted 30.6% creating a current sales pace of only 1.3-month supply of inventory available. Average days-on-market is currently at 45. If new listings ceased, the current inventory would be depleted in about 6 weeks! Analysts generally consider a 6-months supply has a healthy balance of buyers & sellers. The number of homes under contract/pending sales are up 20.9% year-over-year from December to December, another indicator of the strength of demand for housing. The biggest factor of 2020 is the record low interests implemented by the Federal Reserve to aid in the economy recovery process. The avg. mortgage rate paid by homebuyers was only 2.7%, near an all-time record low. Low cost of borrowing & scarce inventory have formed a trend unlikely to be changed during the months ahead as buyers will continue to scramble to find housing in a seller’s market. For contrast, at the bottom of the real estate crisis in January 2011, Orlando’s median home value was $94,900 with 7-months supply of inventory available & ADOM of 96 days.
