The Orlando Regional Realtor Association (ORRA) just released the Orlando Housing Market Report for August of 2013 and it is full of positive news for the local market.  
The median price of existing homes that sold in the Orlando area during August was $155,000, which is a 29 percent increase over the median price compared to August 2012.  Orlando's median price has risen 22 percent since January 2013 and almost 44 percent since January 2012.  
According to ORRA Chairman Steve Merchant, the increase in median price is directly related to the continued domination of higher priced "normal" sales over foreclosures and short sales, which have controlled the market over the last couple of years. Normal transactions made up 67percent of total homes sales in August 2013, while short sales and foreclosures only accounted for 33 percent of the total sales pie. This is opposed to August 2012 when short sales and foreclosures accounted for 52 percent of sales.  This is a ...

Realtytrac just released its U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report for September 2013 and the news was encouraging and gives many homeowners hope.  
While the report shows that more the 10 million homeowners nationwide are still underwater and owe at least 25 percent more on their mortgages than what their properties are worth, another 8.3 million homeowners are now only slightly underwater or above water, which puts them on track to have enough equity to sell sometime in the next 15 months without resorting to a short sale.  
In Florida, Realtytrac shows that 40 percent of homeowner's are deeply underwater with a loan-to-value of 125 percent or higher, which ranks the state third nationally.  On the brighter side, 13 percent of homeowners in Florida were resurfacing and now have, or soon will have equity.  On top of that, another 12 percent of Florida homeowner's are considered "equity rich" with a loan-to-value of 50 percent or lower.  Another interest ...