New independent findings from both Florida Realtors and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, a.k.a. Freddie Mac, show promising developments for Florida’s housing markets.
Freddie Mac’s latest Multi-Indicator Market Index, or MiMi, puts Orlando as the nation’s fastest-growing market, with 19.54% improvement over this time last year. The index is based on a multitude of factors including employment rates, mortgage statuses and payments, and purchase applications.
Florida also ranked among the top five states with the highest percentage growth, along with Tennessee, Mississippi, Oregon, and Massachusetts.
According to Florida Realtors’ Industry Data and Analysis department, these national findings should come as no surprise.
“Still-low mortgage interest rates and a strong jobs outlook are positive trends for Florida’s housing market,” said Florida Realtors’ president Matey H. Veissi, who also serves as a broker and co-owner of Veissi and Associates in Miami. “We’re also seeing a rising number of new listings added to the market, which is a trend that needs to continue as many areas still face a shortage of supply, particularly for single-family homes.”
Florida Realtors also noted that a high percentage of homes were selling at or near their original listing price, with a median price of $213,000 for single-family homes and $160,000 for townhouse-condo properties, up 9.2% and 4.4% over the previous year, respectively.
“Pent up demand for homes and near record-low mortgage rates are bolstering housing markets across the country,” said Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, Len Kief, in a news release earlier this month.
While that might mean good news for Realtors in the housing market industry, it spells a slightly different message for consumers — perhaps particularly for the estimated 32% of all current house-hunters who are also first-time home buyers.
Kief also commented: “The impact of rising house prices coupled with tight supplies of for-sale homes in many markets has the potential to make it difficult for the typical family to buy a home despite these low mortgage rates.”
Florida Realtors’ chief economist Brad O’Connor agrees. “The positive growth we’re seeing in sales for homes priced above the $150,000 mark is being offset by a continuing decline of homes for sale in the most affordable price ranges,” he explained.
So while it may be a bull market for high-end sales, people looking for cheaper homes in Florida may have to wait for an influx of property sales to take advantage of Orlando’s strengthening economy.
