Orlando home auctions continued to depress house prices in the area, based on reports from Florida Realtors.
In January, total sales of previously-owned single-family homes jumped up by almost 55 percent to 1,745 units from the January 2009 sales of 1,127 units. But the sales price median for all these units sold plunged by almost 18 percent to $123,500 from the January 2009 median of $150,500.
Total sales of pre-owned condo units also rose by a sharp 215 percent to 538 units from the January 2009 sales of 171 units. But again, the sales price median plunged by 20 percent to $49,700 from the January 2009 median of $62,200.
While home prices in Orlando continued to fall in January, median sales prices nationwide improved in December 2009. The nationwide median sales price rose by 1.4 percent in December to $177,500, according to the National Association of Realtors.
All large metro areas throughout Florida reported increases in condo sales in January, but only 16 metro areas, including Orlando, reported increases in sales of previously owned single-family homes. Most metro areas in the state posted sales increases for condos in January for 19 straight months.
Orlando home auctions continue to get loaded with properties because of continued job losses in the area. In December, the unemployment rate in Orlando stayed at the high level of 11.9 percent, based on figures from the Agency for Workforce Innovation. A total of 131,386 workers lost their jobs during the month. The rate was 4.1-percent higher than the December 2009 rate of 7.8 percent and higher than the statewide jobless rate of 11.8 percent.
The Florida workforce agency has been doing its best to help companies and government agencies create jobs, including launching the Florida Back to Work program to retrain residents for green jobs. But apparently the effort has not been showing yet its results because the December jobless rate was still high.
The industries that have been cutting the most number of jobs and have been pushing up more pre foreclosures in Orlando were the transportation, trade, utilities and business service sectors.
Because of the continued job cuts and fall in home values, foreclosed homes in Orlando still account for a huge portion of total home sales. According to an online real estate firm, more than 60 percent of homes for sale in the Orlando market are foreclosures, pushing up the number of properties sold by private auctioneers at Orlando home auctions.
Search home auctions in other Florida Top Cities: