An advertisement for million-dollar homes in Baldwin Park shows a woman soaking in a tub under the caption: “Not as rich as you used to be? Luckily, the good life has never been more affordable.”

Custom builders, stuck with luxurious homes they have been unable to sell in the humbled real-estate market, now appear to be the ones taking a bath.

Some are trying to unload masterpiece homes at half the price they had been asking in 2007. Others are faced with having to wait for buyers for the first time in more than a decade. And still others warn that this may be the end of the speculative, high-end-home market in Orlando.

Many builders have found that although they built homes at the high end of the market, they are going to have to sell at the low end.

One builder discussed some of the amenities they include with each home. Inside these houses, a curved, wooden door leads to a study resplendent with leather floors, leather inlays in the coffered ceiling, and a globe of the world centered in the chandelier. Travertine tile lines the concave ceiling of one of the two rooms in the wine cellar. A bank of custom cabinetry frames stainless appliances — and that’s in the master bedroom.

When  completed the 6,600-square-foot home on the main drag of Orlando’s Baldwin Park in 2006, builders had expected it to sell within two or three months, based on demand at the time. Now, years later, Casa Teresa is a blue-light special, with its original $4 million price tag slashed in half.

About 650 homes in the $1.2 million-to- $4 million price range are for sale in the Orlando area. On average, they have been on the market a year and counting, according to records kept by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. Sales in the million-dollar-and-up category have fallen like water from a zero-edge tub: In the first half of this year, 66 such homes sold. Three years ago, 256 sold in that same time frame.

In Central Florida’s prime havens for infill custom homes — Winter Park, College Park and downtown Orlando — more than half of the high-end homes now on the market have been offered for sale since 2006, and the majority of those are still owned by builders, said Barbara Koenig, senior vice president of New Broad Street Cos. Many of these unsold infill houses, scattered throughout existing neighborhoods, now serve as model homes for the builders.

Entire collections of these empty monuments to upscale living populate Keene’s Pointe and Lake Butler Sound in the Windermere area, Windsong in Winter Park, Lake Nona in southeast Orlando, Emerson Pointe in the Bay Hill area, Alaqua Lakes and the Heathrow area in Seminole County, and Bella Collina in Montverde, according to Realtor.com.

Such exclusive communities usually require their chosen builders to construct some homes “on spec” — that is, without a confirmed buyer — so they’re available as walk-through marketing tools.

The glut of high-end homes, most of which are custom-built, is not unique to Orlando. Nationally, sales of homes priced at $750,000 or more have stalled, and the backlog has doubled from a 19-month supply in 2007 to a 41-month supply this year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

A number of forces converged against the luxury market starting two years ago: Home prices began dropping; potential buyers were unable to sell their current homes; and lenders began charging high interest rates on jumbo loans, the mortgage of choice for high-end houses.

Custom builder Rial Jones said that, for the past decade, all of the spec homes he built sold on completion — at least until now. The Tapestry mansion he completed last year in Lake Butler Sound — with two stone-carved lions, both of which are architectural antiques imported from Italy — still awaits a buyer.

Larry Fleming said he had several custom projects under way in Seminole County’s Veramonte development as late as last year. Now he’s stuck with at least one of the houses and is asking $1.4 million for the 5,800-square-foot home, which had been listed for $2 million. After lenders virtually stopped approving jumbo loans last September, Fleming said he felt fortunate to sell what had been a $3 million home, in Windsong, for $1.8 million.

Builders’ bills rise as homes sit

Every month that a custom home sits unsold can cost a builder as much as $10,000 or more in construction-loan interest, taxes, maintenance and other carrying charges. Many builders have been forced to ask for loan extensions from banks, but lenders are increasingly reluctant to extend loan terms, said Fred Tibbs, co-owner of Rex-Tibbs Construction, which has cut the price of one slow-selling Orlando home from $2 million to $1.5 million.

Sensitive to the now-watchful eyes of federal regulators, lenders have started turning down custom builders seeking loan extensions, according to members of the Master Custom Builders Council of Orlando.

“I’m hearing a lot of stories from members that the banks are becoming much more aggressive with them, just because the loans have been on the books for so long,” said Keith Fields, president of the local council.

No one has gone out of business, “but we’ve all gone back to our roots,” said Fields, whose company has shrunk from 12 employees to just him and his wife during the past two years.

“You literally could not build these houses for the price they are selling for,” he said.

For information on great real estate buys in Orlando and nearby suburbs,
contact the Orlando Property Group, your short sale and luxury home specialists.

Or Search Now for Real Estate & Homes in the Orlando Florida Area

 

Looking for specific information regarding Orlando Florida real estate prices and communities? Get Your Free Market Snapshot

Read Also: Short Sale Excellent Option for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

Read Also: Foreclosure Sales: Real Estate Paradise

Read Also: The House Threatens Banks to Stop Foreclosures

Read Also: Real Estate Outlook Gives Buyers a Kick Start

If you want to sell your Seminole County or Orlando area home in the next 6 to12 months, now is the time to begin putting your plan into place while time is still on your side. Please contact us for any real estate assistance you may need.

We’re experts at putting people together with homes they love and can afford. Contact us today for information on Orlando and Seminole County real estate, Orlando & Seminole County homes for sale, Orlando & Seminole County relocation information, a free market analysis of your Orlando area or Seminole County home or statistics on homes in Orlando & Seminole County Florida or the surrounding Central Florida area, including Seminole County, Orange County, Lake County and Volusia County. We’re always available to answer your questions.

 

 

Ultra-luxury home sales are picking up, and some of the priciest homes are located in gold-standard beach-front locations

In the market for a house with a bowling alley, a private beach, and a marble swimming pool? How about a full acre of living space? You have more options than you think.

About 320 properties selling for more than $20 million are on the market across the U.S., according to a recent survey by Ultimate Homes. But in the year since the economic crisis began, sales of these ultra-pricey homes have all but stalled even as the bottom of the housing market is showing some life.

Of course, only a handful of $50 million-plus homes sell even in the best of times. The last major trophy home to sell was Donald Trump’s 60,000-square-foot Palm Beach mansion, which sold to Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev last summer for $95 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a U.S. residential property. Read the rest of this entry »

   The new federal Home Valuation Code of Conduct is delaying financing approval, inaccurately valuing homes and employing inexperienced appraisers, some real estate leaders say.
   Two longtime appraisers also forecast more residential appraisers leaving the industry as a result of the changes.
   The decision to establish the code was made last year, when government-regulated mortgage giant Fannie Mae, along with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, decided to set up new appraisal policies to create more separation between appraisers and lenders.

 

   The regulations are slowing the process for potential homeowners to get financing with the process now taking about 30 days when before it took only a few days. Read the rest of this entry »

In central Florida sit Bella Collina, a sprawling development that was designed to hold 800 homes today though only 48 houses dot the landscape, and just three are occupied. The clubhouse, though open, is eerily quiet, and a promised swimming pool and equestrian center have yet to be built.

Bella Collina, the brainchild of Robert Edward Ginn III, looks like a ghost town. So does Tesoro, another resort opened by Mr. Ginn near Port St. Lucie, where just 150 houses sit on 900 lots. And the Conservatory in Palm Coast, also from Mr. Ginn, is even more barren: 335 out of 340 lots are empty.

Developers and home buyers believed that residential golf resorts were a sure-fire bet and many buyers looked to buy properties that they could flip for a quick profit. While there is no reliable data on the growth in residential golf resorts, analysts say the market is well past its peak — particularly in the Sun Belt — and there is now an overabundance of developments. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the 56^th annual Parade of Homes in Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties. Open to the public from May 3rd, 2009 through May 17th; noon till 6:00pm everyday except Saturdays will start at 10:00am.  With median home prices finally affordable for every budget, this is an ideal time to tour through many custom built home, single-family home, town homes, condominiums and new communities with some focusing on green, energy efficient building.  Every price range will be represented in this year’s Parade of Homes ranging from $100,000 to over $4,000,000.

Whether you are in the market for a new home or just looking to remodel your existing, builders and contractors have their work showcased for you to explorer different options.  Saturday and Sunday, May 9th and 10th, 2009 from noon till 5:00pm, there will be homes open featuring remodeling and design specialties.  View beautiful craftsmanship from the outside to the inside, featuring new elevation ideas, kitchen and bathroom remodels, landscaping, painting, cabinetry and countertops.

 

 

For information on great real estate buys in Orlando and nearby suburbs,
contact the Orlando Property Group, your short sale and luxury home specialists.

Or Search Now for Real Estate & Homes in the Orlando Florida Area

 

Looking for specific information regarding Orlando Florida real estate prices and communities? Get Your Free Market Snapshot

Read Also: Price Stabilization is the First Step to Recovery

Read Also: Buy Foreclosures for Real Estate Bargains.

Read Also: Builder’s Confidence on the Rise

Read Also: Rates Below 5% for Ninth Week Straight!

If you want to sell your Seminole County or Orlando area home in the next 6 to12 months, now is the time to begin putting your plan into place while time is still on your side. Please contact us for any real estate assistance you may need.

We’re experts at putting people together with homes they love and can afford. Contact us today for information on Orlando and Seminole County real estate, Orlando & Seminole County homes for sale, Orlando & Seminole County relocation information, a free market analysis of your Orlando area or Seminole County home or statistics on homes in Orlando & Seminole County Florida or the surrounding Central Florida area, including Seminole County, Orange County, Lake County and Volusia County. We’re always available to answer your questions.

 

 

Time could be right to purchase an Orlando Luxury Home now!

If you currently do not own an Orlando home and were holding off buying a home because prices were out of your range, then you should take advantage of the declining market.  In a Buyer’s market you have an opportunity to buy “right”.  Delaying the purchase of an Orlando home in the hopes that the market will continue downward could be a mistake.  Don’t be sitting on the sidelines in the hope that it will continue on the downward spiral – it might not.

Move up on the Orlando Property Ladder

By the same token, if you do own your Orlando home, and were thinking of moving up, it is also a good time to check the Real Estate market out. There are more factors for you to consider than the first-time buyer, but these factors are not all negative.

• Equity – the more equity you have in your Orlando home the better the argument to putting it to work in a new home.
• Price Differential – Even though your chances of getting top dollar in a Buyer’s market might be an unattainable challenge, remember that when you go to buy, you won’t be paying top dollar either. Do the math, you might like the results. For instance a lower priced Orlando home will likely get closer to market value than a more expensive Orlando Luxury home. For figuring purposes, say a $100,000 home ends up selling for $85,000. But a $200,000 home ends up selling for $175,000. If you’re the person selling the first home and buying the second, you have netted $10,000 between the two transactions.
• Investment Property. This is the time to investigate Orlando rental property. There are many investors who have spread themselves too thin and are interested in divesting themselves of some of their Orlando rental property.
• Vacation or Retirement Homes. If you are in a position to take advantage of purchasing an Orlando vacation home, now is the time. If you had thought of retiring to a location that has been severely impacted you have an opportunity at hand that might now be available in the future. Read the rest of this entry »