Orlando home prices, sales dip in August. Will buyers benefit?
Fall is approaching in Central Florida and the region’s housing market is showing signs of cooling — but, much like the temperatures here during fall, the dips are relative and it’s still pretty hot.
Newly released data from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association for August shows a median home price of $375,000, down from $380,000 in July — which was down from $385,000 in June. The consecutive months of dips in median price followed six months of rising prices.
Overall sales also fell in August, down 2.1% to 2,792 from 2,852 in July. For a year-over-year comparison, both median price ($377,750) and sales (3,324) were higher in August 2022.
“As we near the fall season, we typically see a slowdown in sales, and we are beginning to witness this in the Central Florida market,” said Lisa Hill, Orlando Regional Realtor Association President and an associate broker with Keller Williams at the Parks.
How does a dip in median home price and sales volume affect real estate in Central Florida?
While the trends reflected in ORRA’s August data are expected given seasonal norms — families, in particular, prefer to move during the summer months while school is out — there are silver linings nonetheless for those who would like to buy a home in the coming months.
“Fall can have its benefits for buyers. With our market cooling off, fall homebuyers will face less competition, find more inventory and see median home price pull back a bit,” Hill said.
Lisa Hill, 2023 Orlando Regional Realtor Association board president
In fact, Rose Kemp, a Realtor with Orlando-based Re/Max Town Centre and president-elect for ORRA, noted that homes spent two days longer on the market in August than they did in July — 41 days, up from 39 — and that the increase was even more pronounced year-over-year, with homes spending an average of 27 days in August 2022.
That, combined with the price and sales trends, can create a little bit of leverage for buyers in what has been a tough market for them.
“This time of the year does give buyers a little more negotiating power, because the number of days on the market tends to be a little higher and people are preoccupied with things like kids going back to school and the holidays coming up — this is a great time for buyers to find what they want,” Kemp said. “Sellers will notice the houses are taking a little longer to sell and they won’t want to lose a good buyer.”
Rose Kemp, 2023 president-elect for Orlando Regional Realtor Association
That’s not to say things are all flowers on the buying side, however, as Kemp pointed out that while inventory has ticked up 6.9% from 5,720 in July to 6,115 in August, at 2.19 months’ supply of homes, it is still well below the desired six months of supply for a balanced market. “At the end of the day, our inventory is still low.”
As for the interest rates picture, which continues to have profound effects on what buyers can qualify for, ORRA data shows the August rate was recorded at 6.6%, down from 6.8% in July.
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| Rank | Prior Rank | Company name |
|---|---|---|
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1 |
1 |
Exp Realty LLC |
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2 |
2 |
Charles Rutenberg Realty Orlando |
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3 |
3 |
Opendoor Brokerage LLC |
