Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Kenn Hall of Fannie Hillman + Associates

WINTER PARK, FL---While Greater Orlando’s existing housing market began to show signs of life last year and slowly work its way out of a deep recession, the market’s vital signs literally flat lined over the past decade, according to the 2010 Hillman Report.

“The past 10 years (2001-2010) were basically a lost decade...a roller coaster ride that went absolutely nowhere, especially in terms of pricing,” said Scott Hillman, president of the 30-year-old independent Winter Park brokerage of Fannie Hillman + Associates which produces the semi-annual Hillman Report based primarily on information in the Orlando Regional Realtor Association’s MLS database covering Orange and Seminole counties.

“While there was some decent growth in terms of transactions over the past 10 years, there was little if any gain in any other category,” he said. “Prices stayed pretty much the same and only a couple of very specific areas had a gain or loss of more than two percent per annum. For all intents and purposes the market was flat.”

Hillman pointed out that the “roller coaster ride” had its peaks and valleys with the height of the market occurring in 2005 when transactions were high and inventory was low. Prices continued their upward climb, peaking in the summer of 2007 before nosediving as transactions slowed and inventory rose.

“I still contend that the market was at its worst in February 2009 when the inventory/transaction ratio was at its highest which, in my opinion, was a clear indicator of a bad market,” Hillman said.

“As we moved into the second quarter of ’09 things started to slowly improve.”

As the “lost decade” came to a close, existing single-family home transactions for 2010 were up over 2009 in four of the five price categories, while prices were down. Transactions were up 10 percent for homes priced under $300,000, after soaring 71 percent the previous year, and were also

up approximately 10 percent for homes priced from $300,000-$500,000. Transactions jumped 16 percent for homes priced at $500,000-$750,000, and sales were up a robust 28 percent for homes in the million-dollar plus range.

Transactions for condos continued to do well in lower price ranges but struggled in product priced over $500,000. Condos priced under $200,000 in Winter Park (zip code 32789) were up an astronomical 126 percent, while condo sales in that price range were up over 40 percent throughout the Greater Orlando market.

“Overall, the value of condominiums was down which drove sales in the lower price ranges,” Hillman said. “However, despite a strong performance in lower price ranges, there remains a substantial condominium inventory yet to be absorbed.”

For a copy of The Hillman Report, call (407) 644-1234, or visit Fannie Hillman’s website at www.fanniehillman.com.