Orlando New Home Inventory Drops 32%

Single-family new-home starts in metropolitan Orlando fell during the third quarter to 6,853, down 32 percent from the same period a year ago. That's back to the level of mid-2003, according to MetroStudy, which tracks new-home markets across the country.

The metro area's annual start rate in the third quarter, for the 12 months that ended June 30, was off by 9.8 percent compared with the same 12-month period a year ago.

The area's new-home inventory, 22,794 units, represented an 8.5-month supply, down 0.2 percent. Most of the inventory increase was in the finished-but-vacant category, which rose 123 percent, from 3,664 homes in last year's third quarter to 8,179 units in this year's third period.

According to Anthony Crocco, director of Metrostudy's Central Florida division, the local new-home market is responding well so far to the slowdown in demand, with 1,000 fewer starts than move-ins during the second quarter.

Still, with so many new-home buyers under pressure to sell their existing homes before buying another, and with developers continuing to start new subdivisions and communities, Crocco predicted that the area's new-home supply will remain inflated at least during the short term.
Courtesy of Orlando Sentinel 10/31/06