Orlando home sales of $2M or more soar 130% from pre-Covid
Metro Orlando had a significant uptick in the number of multimillion-dollar homes sold this year — both in comparison to 2022 and especially in contrast to 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
About 26 homes in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties sold for $2 million or more so far in 2023, according to Orlando Regional Realtor Association data shared with Orlando Business Journal — with the entire fourth-quarter still left. That’s 30% more than the 20 homes that sold at that price point in all of 2022 and 142% more than 2019’s 11 such home sales.
There’s a similar trend for homes selling for $1 million and up, with 121 such sales having occurred this year. That’s up from 118 such sales in all of 2022, and just 50 sales at that price point in all of 2019.
Why do luxury home sales matter to Orlando’s residential real estate market?
The increase in the volume of multimillion-dollar home sales is significant in understanding the region’s evolving housing market, which has seen an influx of affluent newcomers from parts of the country with higher home values.
Incoming migration from other parts of the country, such as New York and California, as well as international buyers are increasingly outbidding the market here, said Rose Kemp, a Realtor with Orlando-based Re/Max Town Centre and the Realtor association’s president-elect.
“These are people that are coming here with big pockets. What we consider high-end a lot of these buyers consider a bargain deal.”
The reasons for the influx are myriad, from business momentum into Florida to the state’s lower-tax environment. The Orlando area also is experiencing spillover from Florida’s coastal areas, Shane Croft, a Winter Park-based real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Realty Orlando, previously told OBJ.
“Orlando is the only inland city in Florida that provides enough culture and good enough private schools, as well as attractions like Disney and Universal. The market has completely reset here forever.”
Shane Croft (left) and wife/business partner Tracy Croft of Coldwell Banker Realty Orlando
Part of this reset has involved the emergence of what some call an “ultra-luxury market” — homes being sold for $10 million or more. While there were no such deals in metro Orlando in 2019 or 2020, there were four in 2021 and six in 2022.
That trend was bolstered in February, when the $35 million sale of the Windermere home of former Orlando City Soccer Club owner Flavio Augusto da Silva set a new record in the region.
The three-story mansion at 9538 Blanche Cove Drive sold for $35 million earlier this year.
“Central Florida now has become an ultra luxury market when it has not been one before,” previously said local Compass Real Estate agent Toni Marie Cafferty, who wasn’t involved in that sale.
Buyers at these price points tend to be more well-capitalized, cash buyers in some cases, and usually are on the hunt for something specific, Kemp added. “When a consumer in the high-end market finds a property that they fall in love with, there are not going to be 10 other homes that match it, so they’re going to pay what they need to pay to get what they want.”
While much of Florida’s residential and commercial real estate landscape has been upended by surging property insurance premiums, agents have said that buyers looking at homes for $5 million aren’t factoring that cost escalation into their purchase decisions.
Miranda Earnest, Coldwell Banker Realty
“It’s less of a concern at this price point, to be honest,” said Miranda Earnest, a listing agent with Coldwell Banker Realty, whose current listings include at a $5.5 million estate in Seminole County with a 10-car garage.
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The Wemert Group |
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Roberts Salmons Team |
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Gould+ Team |
