Luxury Real Estate

WINTER PARK, FL---When Winter Park Realtor® Scott Hillman finished compiling statistics for the 2010 Mid-Year Hillman Report, the results showed existing home sales were up, inventory was shrinking, and prices were beginning to stabilize in some areas over a comparable period last year.

“Despite a very challenging economy that drove Greater Orlando’s real estate market to rock bottom in March 2009, we’re starting to see a silver lining as a great many distressed properties have been moved off the books, inventory is slowly being reduced, and prices are beginning to stabilize in some areas, especially in older established neighborhoods,” said Hillman, president of Fannie Hillman + Associates, the 29-year-old independent real estate firm that compiled The Hillman Report based on information in the Orlando Regional Realtor MLS database.

“The existing home market certainly isn’t as bad as some doomsayers would have us believe, but it will only continue to improve provided the industry continues to adjust by flushing out and reducing the inventory of distressed properties,” he said.

According to The Hillman Report, single-family home and condominium sales in Greater Orlando in price ranges from under $200,000 to over $1 million were up 45 percent for the first six months over a comparable period last year.

Of particular note was the sale of 105 homes over $1 million which was up a robust 84 percent. They fetched an average price of $1,641,102 while the sale of 192 homes in the $500,000 - $750,000 price range was up a lofty 50 percent, bringing an average price of $596,952.

Overall, single-family home sales in Greater Orlando were up a very respectable 33.4 percent while condominium sales, which have fallen off considerably in recent years, were up an eye-popping 77.8 percent.

The spike in condominium sales was due primarily to an 11 percent decrease in the average sale price of condos priced under $200,000, resulting in an 80 percent uptick in sales in that price range,” said Hillman.

“On the other hand, condos priced over $500,000 showed increases of 13 and 30 percent, respectively, in average and median prices,” he said. “That’s the good news. The fact that there were only seven sales in this category is a sign that we still have a lot of inventory to be purchased to really feel good about the high-end condo market.”

Average and median prices of single-family homes were down slightly or unchanged in all price ranges, except the $300,000 and under category where they were down nine and 10 percent, respectively.

As for overall plus performance in a particular zip code, Hillman said the neo-traditional neighborhood of Baldwin Park (zip code 32814) showed gains across the board in single-family home sales after a down year in all categories last year. The sale of 68 homes represented a 15 percent increase, the average sales price of $522,331 was up 10 percent, the median sales price of $430,567 was up five percent, and both the average and median price per square foot were basically unchanged.

The Hillman Report also showed the following positive housing trends in specific Greater Orlando zip codes (32751, 32789, 32792, 32801, 32803, 32804, 32806 and 32814):

* Greatest increase in non-lakefront single-family home sales---74 percent in Winter Park (32789)

and 73 percent College Park (32804).

* Greatest increase in condominium sales---133 percent in Winter Park (32789) and 113 percent in

Maitland (32751).

* Greatest increase in media price per square foot---single-family lakefront homes (not on the

Chain of Lakes) up 30 percent to $154.83 in Winter Park (32789).

For a copy of The Hillman Report, contact Scott Hillman at (407) 644-1234, or visit the company’s web site at www.fanniehillman.com for a comprehensive look at The Hillman Report.

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