The Orlando real estate market finished last year on the up side with a 24 percent increase in the price of homes. The improvements to the Orlando real estate market have been a long time coming, and many are thankful the market has finally recovered from the collapse prices suffered after the housing bubble burst. The waves of foreclosures and underwater mortgages drove prices down.
Many residential real estate borrowers struggled to stay in their homes, often attempting to obtain a loan modification or stop a foreclosure. The sheer numbers of foreclosures and short sales during the last half-dozen years has left many homeowners with little or no equity, as prices slowly recovered from their pre-crash levels.
In 2013, median price for homes in the area rose by $28,000. For sellers and realtors, the increases in the last two year have been welcome, after years of double-digit price decreases.
While these increases have helped many people in the Orlando-area, prices still have a long way to go before all of the price declines have been reversed. In mid-2007, the median price for home had reached $264,000.
The price declines were so severe, that many underwater borrowers may have just walked away from properties, as it may have appeared that they would never recover their loan value.
Today, however, if you are still struggling and the potential of a foreclosure still looms, with the rising of home values, before you abandon all hope, you should discuss with an attorney possible foreclosure defenses. Depending on your financial situation, saving your home may be worth the fight.
Source: Orlando Sentinel, “Orlando median home price up 24% in 2013,” January 15, 2014