Today, after eight long years, I received the first condo approval for a Condo. It is still a Seller’s Market, those who are ready to cash out will probably have to sell for less than asking, but those who decide to stay will have a stronger position once the newborn financing options create more muscle and gain into shape, I can anticipate it will be faster than expected. According to My Florida Reginal Multiple Listing System (MLS), January 2018 closed with a weekly average of 5,300 properties new in the market, 5,200 properties going under contract and almost 500 sold. With everything else constant, we started February with a shortage of 400 properties. One would think this is a Seller’s market. However, 4300 properties experienced a price decrease, while only 600 have increased the negotiated price. Even with low inventory prices are still being pretty flexible to buyer’s demands. When negotiating the price, one will assume that the buyer’s power is the factor bringing the prices down. However, after almost a decade, small-sized community banks are coming back to the picture offering new programs getting away from the big-banks regulations, with that inclusion, properties that were negotiated cash only are now open to financing, and appraisals are not yet filling the gap between asking price and appraisal value, this is at least the case for the mid-priced condos or townhouse market in Central Florida. </span></p>
First Quarter Market Tendency
