Real estate sales records at Orange, Volusia and Brevard counties show Brevard posted 2003 sales of 3,253 valued at $759 million; Volusia chalked up 3,160 sales valued at $611 million; and Orange logged 2,790 sales valued at $329 million. In 2002, Volusia and Brevard posted a combined 4,633 sales valued at approximately $700 million, half of the 2003 total.
Low interest rates and a crush of buyers from Orlando and Miami reserving oceanfront properties in Volusia and Brevard has helped the neighboring areas surpass sales volume locally, brokers following the latest trends in the multifamily markets tell GlobeSt.com.
"For about the same money, a buyer in Orlando can own a comparable luxury condo in Volusia and Brevard with oceanfront views," a broker specializing in condo sales around Ponce Inlet, FL in Volusia, tells GlobeSt.com. Orlando is 60 miles inland from the Atlantic. He says the $500 per-sf to $1,000-per-sf prices seen in Miami and Naples, FL for comparable luxury condos are three times higher than those being offered in Volusia and Brevard.
Besides low interest rates, fueling the coastal condo sales blitz are many investors who are turning to real estate rather than new stock issues, brokers tell GlobeSt.com. "There is a growing realization out in the marketplace, especially among the younger investors, that real estate will be able to appreciate quicker than most stocks in today's growing but still rather flat economy," an Orlando area financial planner says.
Sales in the Ormond Beach, FL area of Volusia County bear that out. For example, according to Volusia county real estate records, a condo buyer paid a pre-construction price of $300,000 and sold it the same day for $420,000.
Brokers tell GlobeSt.com even existing units are selling quicker than in previous years--a week maximum versus 30 days a few years ago. As an example, Volusia real estate records show a condo in March 2002 sold for $512,000 or $102,000 more than it sold for in December 2001. In October 2003, the condo was re-sold for $565,000.
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