ORLANDO, Fla. — Those looking for a new home, possibly for the first time, may be surprised to see there is a record number of inventory.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 12,000 homes are currently on the market in Central Florida per the Orlando Regional Realtor Association

  • The average length of a home sitting on the market is 76 days

  • The Freddie Mac 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has been under 7% for twelve consecutive weeks

This comes as many are now waiting to see if either the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, or if the country is headed for a possible recession.

According to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, there’s currently more than 12,000 homes for sale in Central Florida. That equates to about six to seven months of inventory. They also report the average length of a home sitting on the market is 76 days.

Ron Ziolkowski is listed as one of the top 20 RE/MAX realtors in the country. Over three decades, he has sold more than 3,000 homes in Central Florida.

He says despite the high number of homes currently listed, that number will grow even higher soon.

“Inventory is increasing on a daily basis,” Ziolkowski, who owns his RonTheRealtor business, said. “It will continue to increase as we get to Mother’s Day ... when everyone puts their homes on the market for the summer buying season.”

Since the start of the year, the Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is down about a quarter of a point, although that is nearly two whole points higher since 2022. This has presented challenges to first time home buyers.

“Lending is very, very tough,” Ziolkowski said. “There is a lot of criteria right now to get a loan, and the down payments are getting higher and higher and higher ... and the prices have not come down at all.”

The median home price in February across Central Florida was recorded at $385,000, up $10,000 from January. Despite 12,000 homes currently for sale, Orlando Regional Realtor Association president Lawrence Bellido says neither the seller nor the buyer has an advantage right now. 

“It’s right now a balanced market,” Bellido said. “You have buyers who have the option to submit offers, and the sellers really got to dress up their home before they put it on the market to sell.”

Rocket Mortgage not only confirms the neutral market in their recent market report, but in Orange County homes have sold for four percent more than they did this time a year ago.

“We have so much inventory coming back to the market that there will be more opportunity for a buyer to purchase,” Bedillo said. “At the end of the day, it depends what their lender is able to lend to them and what is affordable to them.”

Many experts predicted rates would go down at the end of 2024, however, the rates from the start of 2024 are nearly identical to where they are now.

Joe Lombardi, a mortgage loan officer with Tidewater Mortgage Services, says if a buyer sees a home they love, lock it in.

“Over the last few years we did expect rates to come down, a lot of the analysts thought they would come down, but it really went the opposite way,” Lombardi said. “We are starting to see inflation get curved a little bit so that could help out interest rates long term. There are analysts though saying we are here to stay in this high interest rate environment.” 

But if interest rates do go back down in the high five’s or low sixes, Ziolkowski says get ready for bidding wars to begin.

“Once interest rates go down, it will be ‘gentlemen start your engines,’” he said. “Prices will continue to go up. We are in an area of high desirability.”

Freddie Mac reports the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continues to trend down, remaining under 7% for twelve consecutive weeks. As purchase applications continue to climb, the spring home buying season is shaping up to look more favorable than last year.