Home and condominium sales prices increased more in Metro Orlando than in any almost any other metro area of the state during April from a year earlier, a new report shows.
The median price for a home in the four-county area was $178,000 in April, up 18.7 percent from April 2013, according to a report released Monday by Florida Realtors, a statewide association of real estate professionals.
Compared with a month earlier, Orlando-area home prices actually declined slightly from a median of $180,000 in March. Even with the one-month decline though, prices for the Central Florida market increased more than the statewide average of 9.1 percent. The Orlando metro area includes Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties.
Of about 20 metro areas in the state, only the Naples area experienced greater year-long price gains than Orlando. That market in southwest Florida had a median home sales price of $379,000 last month, which was an increase of 27 percent from April 2013.
Florida Realtors President Sherri Meadows said continued recovery throughout the state was the theme for not only the month but also the quarter.
“The first three months of 2014 show a strong housing market in Florida, with diminishing distressed property sales,” said Meadows, chief executive officer of Keller Williams Cornerstone Realty, with offices in the Villages.
Condominium prices for the Orlando area also rose more than elsewhere in the state. The median price for a multi-family unit in the Orlando region during April was $105,000, which was a 23.5 percent gain from a year earlier. Statewide, condo prices increased 16.9 percent during the 12-month period that ended in April, reaching a median of $135,000.
The price gains underscore a condo-market recovery from median prices that hit a low of less than $50,000 in Metro Orlando about five years ago.
Similar to home prices, condo prices for the month showed a slight decline from $105,750 in April but the year-long gains far exceeded that of condo prices in all but one Florida metropolitan area. Only the Fort Walton Beach area experienced a higher jump in condo prices for the year, rising 37.5 percent to $220,000.
