The most affordable neighborhoods in Orlando are Lake Sunset, where the average 1-bedroom apartment rent goes for $730, Florida Center North, where renters pay $1,060 on average for a 1-bedroom apartment, and East Central Park, where the average 1-bedroom apartment rent goes for $1,100. If you're looking for other great deals, check out the listings in The Willows ($1,104 for a 1-bedroom apartment) or Millenia ($1,145 for a 1-bedroom apartment), compared to the $1,833 average for an Orlando 1-bedroom apartment.

The most popular neighborhoods in Orlando are Lake Sunset, where the average 1-bedroom apartment rent goes for $730, Callahan, where renters pay $1,695 on average for a 1-bedroom apartment, and South Eola, where the average 1-bedroom apartment rent goes for $2,089. If you're looking for other popular neighborhoods, check out the listings in Lake Eola Heights Historic District ($1,495 for a 1-bedroom apartment) or Lake Eola Heights ($1,900 for a 1-bedroom apartment), compared to the $1,833 average for an Orlando 1-bedroom apartment.

The most expensive neighborhoods in Orlando are Lake Nona, where the average 1-bedroom apartment rent goes for $2,808, Baldwin Park, where renters pay $2,157 on average for a 1-bedroom apartment, and South Eola, where the average 1-bedroom apartment rent goes for $2,089. If you're looking for other premium neighborhoods, check out the listings in Lake Eola Heights ($1,900 for a 1-bedroom apartment) or Downtown Orlando ($1,899 for a 1-bedroom apartment), compared to the $1,833 average for an Orlando 1-bedroom apartment.

Mortgage rates decreased slightly this week. According to the latest Freddie Mac data, 30-year mortgages are averaging 5.25%—down from 5.30% last week and up from 3% one year ago.

Alongside this shift, homebuyer competition slowed moderately this week. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, purchase applications decreased 12% from last week and was down 15% compared to one year ago.
“Mortgage applications decreased for the first time in three weeks, as mortgage rates – despite declining last week – remained over two percentage points higher than a year ago and close to the highest levels since 2009” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting.
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Refinances also declined for this week. They’re down 10% from last week and 76% from one year ago.
“For borrowers looking to refinance, the current level of rates continues to be a significant disincentive,” Kan said.

There have been investment groups and individuals storing up cash in order to acquire what is, in their opinion, imminent distressed assets. Is this the "Great Reset"? The pandemic disrupted normal commerce and the nature of work, crippling the supply chain. The economy is also in the torturous act of trying to decarbonize and finding out that it is much more complicated and fraught with self-interest than planned.

I don't share the gloom of the day to vent, only to propose that this moment could be an opportunity for some.
Demographically speaking, a great deal of commercial property is set to go through a generational transfer. The next recipients of these properties are very different than their parents and thus view owning property in a different light — millennials overall prefer cleaner and more progressive values.

At the same time, many properties throughout the nation are soon to be due for refinancing and will be doing so at a higher rate during a time of inflation. I see this bringing forth much more scrutiny in the underwriting process and a possible inability to accomplish certain financial conditions to sell. Not to mention, if you are an operator of residential income property in many parts of the country, eviction moratoriums could also chill opportunities to refinance or sell.

If you can put together enough cash, I predict you will be able to purchase many types of properties at bargain prices. But the competition will be steep from corporations and Hedge funds seeking to create yield from the same situation; getting the deal won't rest on just having cash. As a smaller investor, you won't have the level of cash deployment. Time and market research will be your friend, and you may consider engaging a few brokers to assist in the search.

There will also be competitors who have in some cases been building reserves to purchase properties that have deferred maintenance and tenant issues, either directly or through select government and non-profits programs. This is another factor to consider when finding a commercial property in our current climate.

Ultimately, it is wise for you to find out why the seller is selling; could it be due to  rent moratoriums or other matters such as deferred maintenance hurting the property value? Will you have to evict tenants or refurbish the property? Make sure to factor these kinds of things into your pricing.
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States are currently considering how to increase their housing stock, and rent stabilization is of the utmost concern for many areas. But for now and into the near future, cash is king when buying real estate. Of course, you have to have some, to begin with.

​Florida’s housing market may be showing some beginning signs of cooling in April: Mortgage interest rates and median home prices continued to rise amid a still-constrained supply of for-sale homes – resulting in fewer closed sales compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors®’ latest housing data.

“Rising interest rates and high inflation are impacting all of us, and those factors are definitely affecting Florida’s housing market,” said 2022 Florida Realtors President Christina Pappas, vice president of the Keyes Family of Companies in Miami. “However, our lack of a state income tax, our beautiful beaches and waterways, and warm sunny weather continues to attract new residents, investors and second-home buyers to Florida, especially in the work-from-anywhere world today. In April, the median time to contract for single-family existing was eight days compared to 11 days during the same month a year ago. And the median time to contract for existing condo-townhouse units was 10 days compared to 24 in April 2021.

“Buying or selling a home is a complex process, and a local Realtor can help consumers understand their local market and provide expert guidance to ensure peace of mind.”
Last month, closed sales of single-family homes statewide totalled 28,171, down 15.3% year-over-year, while existing condo-townhouse sales totalled 13,711, down 20.9% from April 2021. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.

Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor pointed to the rapid rise in mortgage interest rates this year, particularly in March and April, as a major factor slowing home sales last month, along with still-rising home prices and restricted supply.

“Remember, 2021 was characterized by near-record low mortgage rates that allowed for a huge surge in home-buying demand,” he said. “So it’s simply unreasonable for us to expect that the market will perform just as well this year, now that we are in a higher interest rate environment. Closed sales are performing at about the level they were leading up into the pandemic, despite higher mortgage rates, low supply and much, much higher sale prices.”

The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in April was $410,000, up 21.8% from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Last month’s statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $310,000, up 24% over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.
Dr. O’Connor added, “Again we need to remind ourselves that many home sales that closed in April actually had their prices determined when they went under contract a month or two earlier, just as rates were really starting to take off.

“In the longer run, price growth should start to moderate in response to these higher rates, so this is an important statistic to keep your eye on over the next few months as an increasing share of sellers will inevitably have to start adjusting their expectations to a degree.”

On the supply side of the market, inventory (active listings) remained tightly constrained in April 2022: Single-family existing homes were at very limited 1.1-months’ supply while condo-townhouse inventory was at a 1.3-months’ supply.
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According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.98% in April, significantly higher than the 3.06% averaged during the same month a year earlier.

With no major economic news, the investor outlook for growth and inflation remained the same last week. Mortgage markets experienced some daily volatility, but rates ended the week with little change.

In the article, "Strong Year for Home Sales," Economic Outlook specifies "that sales for all of 2021 still were 8.5% higher than in 2020," even though there was an unexpected dip in December, inventory levels were down 14%, well below the 6-month supply which is considered a healthy balance between buyers and sellers, and a record low level. The median existing-home price was 16% higher than last year at this time at $358,000.

Also notable, the mix of homes currently selling has been changing. Sales of homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 were 23% lower than a year ago. Rising prices and competition from investors have made it more difficult for buyers to find affordable homes, especially at the lower end of the market. By contrast, sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1,000,000 jumped 32% during that period.​

Investors have been watching the monthly reports on housing starts closely, as well as closely following any news on the omicron variant, and after the shortage of available homes in many areas, the most recent data was encouraging. Building permits, a leading indicator of future activity, also beat the consensus forecast, rising to the best level since January 2021. Though higher prices and shortages for land, materials, and skilled labor remained obstacles to a faster pace of construction.

$12.5 million on Oct. 13 in an all-cash deal, listing agent and broker/owner of Windermere-based Florida Golf & Beaches LLC Karan Wienker said. It's the most money ever fetched by a single Orange County home, according to MLS data.
"It's not just a feather in our cap," Wienker said. "This is a freaking plume.” 
Wienker represented the sellers, KC and Monica Craichy. Meanwhile, the unnamed buyer was represented by Patricia France of Kissimmee-based Happy Days Realty LLC.

​Investors will closely watch Covid case counts around the world. They also will look for hints from Fed officials about the timing for changes in monetary policy. Beyond that, the next European Central Bank (ECB) meeting will take place on Thursday. Third quarter gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic activity, also will be released on Thursday. The core PCE price index, the inflation indicator favored by the Fed, will come out on Friday

While it’s probable most Central Florida homeowners experienced a jump in home values this year, some are seeing increases of more than 50%. 

Migration triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic and low interest rates supercharged the local housing market last year. That led to rapid price increases that continue to this summer. In the first half of 2021, Windermere, Ocoee and Lake Nona were among the local communities with the fastest home price growth, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. 

Trends in the residential real estate market are important, as the housing market often is considered a reflection of the local economy's overall health. Escalating home prices can make homes unaffordable for buyers. At the same time, they create more equity-rich homeowners, The Business Journals report.

Across Central Florida, the median home price leaped 14.5% between January and June, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. The June median home price of $315,000 is the highest on record at the Realtor association.

Nationwide, home prices in June increased at their fastest rate since 1979, according to an Aug. 3 report by Irvine, California-based property data firm CoreLogic Inc. While CoreLogic recorded a 12.5% year-over-year price increase in metro Orlando, Central Florida home prices are not skyrocketing as fast as the 17% increase registered nationwide. 

“Florida in general still looks relatively affordable compared to the rest of the country,” said Lesley Deutch, managing principal of John Burns Real Estate Consulting LLC.

Despite blistering price increases, CoreLogic predicts the rate at which home prices climb will slow in the next 12 months. The firm expects demand to taper off and housing inventory to recover, according to the report. 
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Likewise, National Association of Realtors Chief Economic Lawrence Yun in June said a slight slowdown in price gains may happen later this year or next year. "Home price growth will be in the single digits in 2022 … A home price decline is unlikely.”