Orlando home prices are soaring, but condos aren’t going along for the ride

David Plowden had been watching availability at downtown Orlando’s luxury high-rise The Vue for years. In January, the 26-year-old blogger finally bought the condominium he wanted with a view of Lake Eola.

“Once that studio opened up, I jumped right on it,” he said.

Plowden paid $197,000 for his 700-square-foot studio with a view of Lake Eola. He said the price was originally listed at $200,000, but he talked the owner down, something many real estate agents say isn’t happening much in single-family housing market these days.

“People are getting whatever they want for a house right now,” said Orlando real estate agent Jose Lavandera. “People can ask anything and someone is going to pay it. It’s the wild west out there right now.”

Over the past year, as single-family home prices in Orlando skyrocketed and inventory fell to historic lows, condominium sales have been lackluster, experts say.

From February 2020 through February 2021, median prices for Orlando-area condos rose from $145,500 to $147,000, a change of about 1%, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

Sales were up 12% year-over-year with a total of 326 units sold.

Meanwhile, the median price for a single-family home rose to $280,000, a $30,000 increase over the previous year, and sales rose by 18% to 2,995.

Karl Pischke, vice president at Winter Park-based real estate consultants RCLCO, pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as possibly playing a part in the disparity.

“As people have had to work from home … there’s a desire for more space and private yards,” he said.

Pischke also noted the ways the pandemic has affected affordability.

“You have lower- and middle-income households that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and these are households that would typically be attracted to a more value-conscious option like a condo,” he said.

But, he added, interest rates are so low that many people can afford single-family homes that were not able to previously.

Low interest rates are part of what attracted Plowden to purchase his condo as a place to stay when he’s away from his DeLand home. When he isn’t using it, he plans to rent it on the travel website Airbnb.com.

He says that though the building has few units for sale, he thinks many of the owners, like him, aren’t there full-time.

“I’m not seeing a lot of people in the building,” he said. “All the units are bought up, but the people are not there.”

The Vue allows owners to rent out their condos, though potential renters have to go through the same screening processes as buyers, which means credit and criminal background checks as well as questions from the condo association. Plowden says he had to take a COVID test when he purchased his.

Such requirements are one reason Lavandera said few of his clients are interested in condos. But he believes the biggest reason are high fees. “If you have a $500 [per month] HOA fee, that can equate to an extra $100,000 worth of home,” he said.

Plowden said his condo association fees at The Vue are $200 a month, but they pay for the building’s amenities. On his floor, Plowden has a deck with a pool, a gym, a combination basketball/tennis court and a coffee lounge.

The building also has 24-hour security and biometric fingerprint locks for residents.

Condominiums in the area are still selling. In the past year, eight condos sold for more than $2 million.

But Central Florida is also behind other areas such as South Florida. In Broward county, condo and townhome sales were up 22.8% in February from the same time last year, according to a report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Pischke said that is in line with what he’s seen with condos on both Florida coasts.

“It’s our understanding that that market is doing very well,” he said.

Orlando’s different market is another factor that Pischke believes is pushing more people toward single-family homes.

“We aren’t at the same level of density as places in South Florida,” he said. “You have the option at the same price point to find a single-family home scattered throughout Orlando.”

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