December Orlando home sales were up 21 percent, but real estate agents in 2008 sold 12 percent fewer homes and the median value dropped by $45,000, the Orlando Regional Realtor Association reported Jan. 12.

Association members brokered the sale of 1,305 existing homes in December, a 21 percent improvement over the 1,076 sold in December 2007. The median sales price for December 2008 was $169,900, a 2 percent jump from the $166,000 reported a month prior, but a 24.5 percent decline from the $225,000 posted in December 2007.

That drop was attributed to the fact that 40 percent of home transactions involved foreclosures and short sales, which pull down values, Association President Les Simmonds said in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, sales in 2008 were down nearly 12 percent from those sold in 2007. Association members sold 14,740 homes last year, compared to 16,744 in 2007. The 2008 median price fell to $200,000, an 18 percent drop from 2007’s $245,000.

Realtors in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties sold 1,643 homes in December, a 27.6 percent increase when compared 1,288 resales in December 2007.

Osceola saw its second highest percentage increase in home resales in December with a 64 percent jump, from 180 sales in December 2007 to 296 last month. Orange County recorded a 42 percent increase in existing home sales in December, from 581 to 827, and Lake County home sales grew 8.7 percent, from 229 to 249, while Seminole County sales fell 9 percent, from 298 to 271.

Overall year-end sales for each county were as follows:

• Osceola County — sales grew 3.6 percent above 2007, from 2,712 in 2007 to 2,809 last year.

• Lake County — sales fell 5 percent, from 3,147 to 2,976.

• Orange County — sales dropped 10.6 percent, from 9,887 to 8,839.

• Seminole — 22 percent decline, from 4,305 to 3,348.

Association members’ pending sales — considered an indicator of future sales activity — fell from 3,326 in November to 3,265 in December. But last month’s number of pending sales was up 109 percent from the 1,559 reported in the same month a year prior.

Lower home values also pushed up the first-time homebuyers affordability index in December. The area’s affordability index in December rose to a record 142.16 percent, which means a buyer who earns the area’s median income of $51,962 could qualify for a conventional 80 percent loan for a home valued up to $241,523 — 142 percent of the median home sales price.

There are currently 22,524 homes on the market, 1,884 homes less than November. The current inventory level also is 7 percent lower than December 2007’s 24,298.

The inventory level reflects a 17-month supply at the current sales pace, an improvement from the nearly 22-month supply posted a month prior and 23.6 percent less than December 2007’s inventory.

All homes spent an average of 109 days on the market before being sold in December 2008, and the average home sold for 92.7 percent of its listing price.

Existing condo sales in the Orlando area totaled 137 in December, a 42.7 percent jump when compared with the 96 condo resales in December 2007.

Orlando homebuyers purchased 117 duplexes, town homes, and villas in December 2008, a 6 percent decrease from December 2007’s 125.


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