The number of sales pending in Orlando continues to climb. We are over the 7,000 mark right now, and adding to that total each month. In the past the pending sales were the best indicator of future closings. That is still true, but the relationship between the two is getting skewed by a number of factors. First, short sales are a large percentage of the the total number of pending sales. They account for close to half of all the contracts pending, but only a small number are closing each month. Second, bank owned properties are often difficult to close because of title issues and difficulty in obtaining estoppels from home owners associations and condominium associations. Finally, issues with closing purchase loans have lengthened the time to close by about 50% compared with our typical 30 day closing.
I try to keep up with the number of closed sales more closely, and as of this morning there were 1,104 closed sales posted with a median sales price of $130,000 which is right in line with the past two months. The total number of active listings is just over 18,300. The banks ability to approve short sales in a timely manner, clear title on their REO's and close loans is at the core of the build up of pending sales due to delays. If you look at the number of contracts written each month, I think you will see a far greater indicator of the demand for Orlando Real Estate. New contracts have risen each month since November: 11/08 1,644; 12/08 1,871; 1/09 2,282; 2/09 2,434; 3/09 2,956; 4/09 3,412; 5/09 3,455. The number of contracts written is running almost double the number of closed sales each month.
Orlando Real Estate, David Welch Real Estate Optimist, @RealtyOptimist
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