Buyer demand for existing homes in the core Downtown Orlando market outstripped supply so much in March that a quarter of sales commanded more than the asking price, according to Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
Sales prices for existing homes that sold during March increased to $145,000, which is an increase of 24 percent from a year earlier. The jump marks the biggest 12-month increase since 2006. Not only was the area’s median sales price a substantial gain from a year earlier, it was a 3.5 percent gain in one month.
Buyer demand continued to outweigh supply last month for sales of association members mostly in the Orange and Seminole areas.
“Buyer competition is so stiff that more than one in four of the homes that closed during April sold for more than original listing price,” said association Chairman Steve Merchant, owner of Global Realty International in Orlando.
The signs of a pure sellers’ market include an inventory of 2.68 months, which is less than half the amount of available listings considered healthy for a market. In addition, buyers have little wiggle room to negotiate. Sales prices were 96.85 percent of the asking price, which is the slimmest margin since March 2006.
