While many in the press insist that the Orlando real estate market in an envious position compared to many other areas of Florida or the country, the facts indicate that we are suffering.  In fact, the market conditions are just outright terrible!  

While the inventory of unsold homes has only marginally increased over the prior week, and pending sales have increased only by a pittance, the sold homes compared  to last year has dropped from 50%  lower to 53% lower sales.  If you are comparing this to the good times of 2005, we are 66% lower. Any way you slice it, the market looks terrible and outright scary. Not many industries can survive in such a business climate.  We are seeing many lenders being on the ropes. If Country Wide, the #1 lender is going to make it, it will take a miracle.  Why?  Because they are getting kicked from all different sides and their stock value has dropped to almost a penny stock value.  Over the last seven weeks, our Orlando home sales have dropped every week compared to that of last year.  Seven weeks ago, they may have been just 40% behind pace.  Now they are 53% behind last year and we are not seeing any change in course on the horizon.

The overall active resale inventory in the 4-county area (Orange, Seminole, Volusia, and Lake Counties) stands at 31,315 which is very high.  In fact, this has increased slightly.  Hopefully, we will get another Fed rate cut which would help at least sentimentally and get some buyers off the fence.  Buyers are "on strike" right now, at least that's what I read in a recent edition of the Orlando Sentinel.  A rate cut would at least be one of the incentives which could get some buyers moving into buying.

The number of sold homes, compared to last year for the same 30-day period, has decreased 53%, and that is not good in anyone's book.  In comparison to the same period in 2005, sales are 66% behind the fast moving 2005 pace.  Storm clouds are continuing to form over the real estate horizon and they seem to be stationary for some time to come. Since the beginning of the year, sales declined compared to last year, by 37%.
Our market is currently a 100% buyer market.

• Sales Demand Activities –moving to slower
• Sales last year (September) to this year (September) - 53% lower
• Resale Inventory – decreased by 250 homes
• Trend Indicator –  downwards
• Cumulative Market Time – Volusia County (125 days), Seminole County (114 days), Lake County (143 days)
• Unsold Inventory Supply - Orange County (21.4 months), Seminole County (14.0 months), Lake County (26.0 months), Volusia County (20.1 months), Osceola County (38 months)
• Areas that face the biggest challenge to sell homes are: Lake, Volusia & Osceola Counties.