HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
ORLANDO REAL ESTATE RECOVERS ITS MAGIC
index is still relatively affordable. It’s a question of inventory.”
According to Metrostudy, the slow pace of new lot development in and around Orlando is limiting the availability of new homes and supporting the uptick in home prices. People are not just relocating from the Midwest. There are foreign buyers coming in from Canada, Brazil and Great Britain, plus thousands of Hurricane Maria refugees from Puerto Rico that may or may not stay for the long term, Nimkoff said. Housing starts were up 2.6 percent in 2017 from the year before, noted Harrison. So far for 2018 starts are up more than 5 percent compared to all of 2017, he said. For the second quarter of the year, Metrostudy reported that new home starts were up 7.1 percent and quarterly closings were up 9.9 percent compared to the same quarter in 2017.
supply of home listings, which are down to near record lows,” said Toby Hoff, Regional Director of Metrostudy’s Central Florida market in a press release. “This is a testament to the region’s strong job market.” Still, there are projects coming out of the ground both in downtown Orlando and outlying areas such as the Tohoqua master-planned community in Osceola County. “There are custom builders in that development,” said Commissioner Grieb. “One of our consortium is imec out of Belguim. When we spoke with the executives there we asked what people were looking for when they relocate. Schools, housing with high-end interiors were important. Very walkable. Sixty to 70 percent of people bike to work in Belgium.” In downtown Orlando, the Creative Village project is underway on the site of the former Amway Arena.
The association’s July report noted an increase in overall affordability to nearly 127 percent (anything above 100 percent means homes are more affordable than normal), an increase from the prior month, and an increase in first-time buyer affordability to over 90 percent, also an increase from June. Despite the increased affordability, the problem in Orlando — like in most parts of the country — remains the housing shortage. “With about 50,000 people a year moving to the metro area, we’re only building single family, condos and townhomes for 25,000,” explained Nimkoff, principal at Brio Real Estate Services LLC. “We’re not building the same number of housing units as we did before the crash in 2008. The builders don’t have the tradespeople to do that.” “With about 50,000 people a year moving to the metro area, we’re only building single family, condos and townhomes for 25,000. We’re not building the same number of housing units as we did before the crash in 2008. The builders don’t have the tradespeople to do that.”
“Absorption levels continue to rise in Central Florida despite the declining
Q2 2018 HOME AFFORDABILITY HEAT MAP Q2 2018 AFFORDABILITY INDEX* (UNDER 100 IS LESS AFFORDABLE THAN HISTORIC AVERAGE) 258 47
LOU NIMKOFF PRESIDENT, ORLANDO REGIONAL REALTOR ASSOCIATION
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SEP 2018 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS
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