Florida real estate sales and prices heat up

DAVENPORT, Fla. - April 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Just like the Florida weather, the real estate market is heating up even further, the latest market data shows.

Sales and prices in the Sunshine State and in and around Orlando in Central Florida all rose in February 2015, according to realtor figures.

Leading developer and agent, Feltrim Group, is also seeing growing demand from investors not only from within the United States but around the world.

Chief Executive Officer Garrett Kenny says, “Investors from China, Latin America, the UK and Canada are among top foreign buyers of Feltrim Group real estate and recognise its value.

“Real estate in top-class resorts and gated communities that is close to DisneyWorld and Central Florida’s other major theme parks, attractions, golf courses and shopping malls are high on the list of priorities for buyers.

“Compared with real estate prices in many other countries, including Canada and the UK, Florida property is great value for money and investors are often amazed at what their money buys them here. Some Chinese investors are so impressed with the investment potential of US real estate that they buy several properties at a time.”

In Florida, median annual prices for single-family homes and townhouse-condo have risen for the past 39 months in a row.

There were 18,701 closed sales of single-family homes in Florida, up 19% on February 2014. New pending sales for existing single family rose 14.7% year-on-year and pending sales for townhouse-condo units increased 7.5%.

Florida Realtors President Andrew Barbar, says, "Realtors across the state are reporting increased interest from both buyers and sellers – and with interest rates expected to rise in the next few months, now is certainly the time to take action.”

The median sales price for single-family existing homes was $179,995, up 9.1% on February 2014 and almost $20,000 lower than the national figure. Townhouse-condo properties fetched a median price of $143,000 on average, up 8.3%, and more than $50,000 lower than the national median existing condo price of $198,300.

Sales of existing homes in the Orlando area rose nearly 20% in February compared with the previous year.

Median prices for all types of Orlando area homes combined rose 4.4% year-on-year to $165,000, which is a 6.4% or $10,000 higher than January’s median price.

In addition to the overall median price increase, each individual sale type and home type all experienced a year-to-year median price increase in February. The median price of single-family homes rose 4.59% year-on-year and the median price of condos increased 1.04%.