Orlando: Housing Market very strong!

Realtors: No sign of price bubble here Central Florida's growing economy will continue to pump up housing prices, thetrade groups said.A solid, growing economy will keep Orlando-area home prices rising atabove-normal rates, the Orlando Regional Realtor Association said Wednesday,citing a study by its national organization.The local housing market is in "very little danger" of a price bubble, the localgroup said, citing a study of fast-growth U.S. markets by the NationalAssociation of Realtors.Historically, home prices have tended to rise about 4 percent to 6 percentannually. In Metro Orlando, prices have risen 73 percent in just the past threeyears."The local market is likely to appreciate at an above-normal rate because of thestrong job growth and the steadily rising number of retirees and foreign homebuyers expected to purchase homes in Orlando in the coming years," said LydiaPisano, president of the Orlando association and an agent with Keller WilliamsHomestead Realty."And the good news for buyers is that Orlando's impossibly hot market isactually slowing down a bit to a palatable level," she said, "with an increasein inventory and a median price that has remained stable for the past fewmonths."The median existing-home price was $245,000 in July and remained there inAugust. And the inventory of existing homes on the market in August was at itshighest level in more than a year.While population and job growth have been strong, mortgage rates have remainedat near historic low levels, Pisano noted.The national Realtors' analysis of the Orlando home market concluded that aprice decline of 5 percent would occur only if mortgage rates shot up 10.5percent and the area sustained the loss of 64,000 jobs.The average national rate for 30-year home loans continues to hover at justbelow 6 percent. And the Orlando area is projected to gain at least 60,000 jobsover the next 24 months.