Housing costs — both rents and home prices — in the Metro Orlando area rose faster than in most metropolitan areas within the state and the nation in March from a year earlier, two new reports show.
The midpoint price for a house that sold last month in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties was $238,000, and that was up 10.7 percent from a year earlier, according to a new report by Florida Realtors. Prices in 20 metropolitan areas in the state rose similarly but slightly less, 10.4 percent.
"Higher demand, coupled with a shortage of available homes for sale, continues to put pressure on prices -- so buyers are eager to make an offer when they find the right property," stated Maria Wells, president of Florida Realtors. Sellers, she said, "continue to receive a higher sales price as inventory remains scarce."
Near Metro Orlando, Volusia County's March home sales prices rose 12 percent and Brevard County's rose 10.9 percent from a year earlier. Polk County, meanwhile, increased 6 percent. The state's lowest price growth was in Gainesville and the rest of Alachua County, where prices rose 1.7 percent from March 2016 to a median of $183,000.
Orlando-area renters experienced higher lease-rate increases in March compared with renters nationally, according to a new report by Zillow. In March, Orlando rents were up 3.2 percent from a year earlier and reached a midpoint of $1,400, according to Zillow. Across the country, rents increased an average of 0.7 percent during that time, reaching a median of $1,408, the real estate marketing company reported.
Orlando's trend of rising rental costs contrasted with South Florida, where rents declined 0.6 percent to a median of $1,849 during the year-long period that ended in March.
Central Florida's rent growth slowed from a year earlier, when it climbed 4.4 percent during a 12-month timeframe.
"The slowdown in rental appreciating is mainly due to new construction finally meeting demand, and even outpacing demand in some areas," said Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell.
Rents, he added, "are the highest they've ever been, weighing heavily on renters' budgets and making it extremely difficult for those renters hoping to become homeowners to save enough money for a down payment."
