[THE Orlando Photo Thread]

Very nice pics!!!!

Thank you for sharing.

Does any one have updated pics from the other developements?

Black and White pics preffered!!!

lol!!

Just kidding!

Thanks guys for sharing your pics with us!

[THE Orlando Photo Thread]

Now, apologies for replying off topic; I'd like to echo those who appreciate the great photos appearing on this thread lately.

You are absolutely right!

I did mean to make a comment on the pics.

They are amazing!!!!!!

Thank you guys for sharing them with us. I don't think I will ever have the opportunity of seeing a city grow so much in such a short time... I luv it!!!

So much that I keep changing the wallpaper of my computer to display the latest and greatest pictures

Thanks!!

[THE Orlando Photo Thread]

Maybe your birdy got that info from a cover story that ran in the Sentinel about a week ago. Median housing prices have skyrocketed across Orlando during the past two years (increasing 55% on average), with one exception.

And I'm quoting from the article here:

Only one ZIP code in all of Central Florida actually recorded a decline in its median home price during the past two years: 32801, the very heart of downtown Orlando. But that's only because a cascade of apartment-to-condominium conversions starting in 2004 have flooded the market with hundreds of relatively small and inexpensive "homes" for sale; while the median price per dwelling is down, the average price per square foot in the city center was up 44 percent during the same period.

All of their data came from the metro Orlando realtors association, and it said that from October of 2004 to October of 2005, the median cost of a home/condo in downtown went from $250,500 to $227,891 -- a 9% decline.

However, the price per square foot across the 32801 zip code went from $175 to $227 -- a 29% increase. As you can see from the quote above, the increase was even higher in the business district.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom...builder-navsrvc

I have during these past 2 years found those articles in the paper very misleading.

I bought a house in that zip code 2 years ago (2004) and have been following the median housing pricing vs. the homes being sold around the neighborhood.

The Orlando Sentinel has been great at covering news about the big condo boom in the area, but has done a poor job at covering information in regards to Single Family Homes.

There is one trend that the Orlando Sentinel has not mentioned and it is the renovating/remodeling of either historic homes or upgrading from homes that are 20+ years old.

Many of those properties that I have seen sold for a lower (but close) to the median sell price, are homes that needed some serious renovation and/or were condemned due to irreparable damage. If they were to take a closer look, they would see that the sales price covers mostly the expensive lot value instead of the value of the building.

1/2 the buyers have been selling those properties at a large profit (after renovating the places), and this process takes about a year or so due to the restrictions of the Historic Preservation Board, others (as in my case) have taken our time to fix up the place, give the shine back to those original wood floor, bring back the beautiful wood-work-detail and put some TLC to those historic homes.

I bought my house for 200k less than what I can sell it for right now, but it will not be part of the statistics the Orlando Sentinel uses, since I am planning on staying here for as long as I can.

There are many different factors to look into than those from the new condo boom... which I have not yet seen the media take into account when looking at the home sales price of areas like College Park and the 32801, 32803 zip codes.

[55 West]

This is great news. I'm so excited that my grandchildren will be able to see the opening of 55 West!

I am so excited my grandchildren will be there also to see the opening!

The sad thing is that I have not even started having kids yet... hopefuly, at that point, the grandkids will not be asking the same questions we are right now "When will it be completed?"