The Pulse of East Orlando Real Estate, With a Focus on Waterford Lakes

By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel

The Orlando area's inventory of houses listed for sale is the smallest it has been December 2005, according to a report released Wednesday by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

The median price paid for single-family homes in June remained flat at $110,000 when compared with May, as the percentage of distress sales in the core market diminished for a fifth consecutive month. Compared with a year ago, that median price was down more than 4 percent.

A healthy real estate market, one balanced between buyers and sellers, usually has a six-month supply of houses listed for sale. Based on the sales pace in June, the core Orlando market, mainly Orange and Seminole counties, had only a 4.37-month supply last month. The number of homes in that inventory — 10,559 — is down 35 percent from June 2010.

"Absorption of inventory is a key to price improvement, and this solid gain implies that home values in many neighborhoods are or will soon be stabilizing as inventories get absorbed at a faster pace," said Mike McGraw, chairman of the Orlando Realtors group and owner of McGraw Realty Services of Apopka. The association's monthly report is based on members' sales.

The share of existing-home sales that were not distress transactions reached 40 percent last month — the fifth consecutive month in which the percentage of "normal" sales has improved.

Those regular sales fetched a median price of $158,000 versus a median of $99,000 for short sales and $80,310 for bank-owned sales.

Homes of all types spent an average of 103 days on the market before attracting a contract, and the average home sold for 95.15 percent of its listing price in June, which was consistent with May sales.

The average mortgage interest rate on a 30-year loan decreased in June to 4.56 percent compared with 4.66 percent a month earlier.