Trifter

Orlando, the county in central Florida, located within an hour to the west or east coast beaches, is a prime tourist location for both domestic and international travelers.  Orlando is home to over 240,000 residents, and is the third largest metropolitan area after Miami and Tampa.  Orlando is one of the most desirable places to live, retire or invest.

Orlando is surrounded by an abundance of tourist attractions (SeaWorld, Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Studios, Cape Canaveral, home of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center) and holiday rental properties are likely to do well here.  There are over 2,800,000 international visitors, and 46,000,000 domestic visitors coming to Orlando every year.  This might be one of the reasons why Orlando is Florida’s strongest and most stable real estate market.  Savvy investors looking for profit are coming from all over the world to buy properties in Orlando because of fast growing industries in town (tourism, healthcare, center of digital media and bio medicine, education, future life-science industries, defense manufacturing).

Although Orlando’s real estate market is better than the rest of Florida, it has also felt the effects of the crash.  The median sales prices of homes in Orlando decreased from $314,000 (in 2007) to $174,000, and 40% of the overall inventory of listed homes are in some kind of distress and can be bought at greatly reduced prices.  Gigantic homes are selling for less than 40% of what they used to sell for. 

Neighborhoods in West Orlando offer better stability than other areas.  In Lake Mann, Sunset Lake and Clear Lake areas only 2% of homes are on the market and houses rarely come up for sale.  Investors interested in properties more likely to retain their values might consider available properties in these areas.

Orlando’s newest and most sought after neighborhoods are Avalon Park (in East Orlando) and Baldwin Park (in downtown Orlando).

With the new Medical City on the way you could not pick a better place to live and work than Winter Park, Kissimmee, Altamonte and Winter Gardens.  Real Estate will heat up here first when the dust begins to settle, due to the growth anticipated.  The homes in this area have experienced an increase in activity and decrease in supply.

Other areas of interest are neighborhoods near the old Mills and Nebraska Lumber Company.  Best buys are rehabs or remodeled older homes. 

Lake Nona in East Orlando (only 20 minutes from Mickey Mouse land) is a beautifully designed 7,000 acre community, home to world class education and recreational facilities, a science and Technology Park, UCF Medical Center, Burhnam Research Center, retail centers, entertainment and residential options for a wide variety of people seeking the best the city has to offer. 

Right now buyers in Orlando have many choices of residential homes, with great buys available, but the most growth in Florida is expected to happen here, so don’t be surprised if the inventory of homes will soon run out.