Luxury Prices Don´t Guarantee Luxury Orlando Homes

Real estate agents claim that the number of Orlando home sales has been decreasing over the year, fueling speculation that this is the beginning of the end of the Florida real estate boom. However, while the sale of median priced homes may be lagging, sales of luxury Orlando homes, priced at $500,000 or more, have increased by 86 percent in July "when compared to the first seven months of 2004."

Demand for million dollar homes has jumped by 58 percent, with 191 luxury Orlando homes sold this year. "That´s an increase of almost 335 percent since 1999 when just 42 homes sold for more than $1 million in Orange and Seminole counties."

On the opposite end of the scale, Orlando homes costing between $140,000 and $299,999 saw an 11 percent drop in sales. This may be due to the fact that with steadily increasing prices, there are fewer and fewer houses to choose from in that price range and more in the million dollar range.

In fact, many argue that houses priced at $500,000 or more should not actually be considered luxury Orlando homes. When one takes into consideration that a house selling for $1 million today "was probably worth about $500,000 five years ago," it only follows logic that while $500,000 Orlando homes of today may carry a luxury price, they most likely have the amenities of the $250,000 Orlando homes of five years ago.