Written by
Mary ShanklinContact Reporter
Central Florida’s neighborhood hot spots — places where home prices grew the most last year — appear to have limited listings for house shoppers and access to new transportation routes.
Mary ShanklinContact Reporter
A review of average sales prices for ZIP codes in Orange and Seminole counties found areas where average home-sales prices rebounded sharply during the year and other areas where prices were back to peak-market levels of 2006, according to year-end data from Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
In Maitland, College Park and elsewhere, scant listings on neighborhood streets played a key role in driving up average sales prices throughout 2016, said one of the region’s leading brokers.
“I think the low base of inventory is probably the biggest factor in the growth of those areas,” said Scott Hillman, president of Fannie Hillman and Associates.
In addition, average sales prices also boosted in Apopka, Zellwood and Meadow Woods and other areas where new transportation options are opening up. The Top 10 ZIP codes with the most price appreciation in Orange and Seminole counties during 2016 were:
1. Maitland, 32751
The suburban city just north of Winter Park, together with some parts of Eatonville, had limited sales during 2016 — about a third of that for the average Orlando ZIP code. The average sales price in that limited pool increased from $156,333 in January to $273,900 in December. Prices are still below peak-market levels of $387,681 in 2006. A $66 million city center, with six stories of apartments and an open-air marketplace, is underway on 3 acres at the heart of the town. It also grew last year with apartments next to the SunRail station.
2. College Park, 32804
Threaded with lakes and streets named for colleges, the area northwest of downtown Orlando was one of the few pockets of Orlando where both sales and prices increased. The average sales price grew by $100,000 to reach $414,866. Residential tear-downs have driven average prices over peak-market levels of $387,681 in 2006. A new gateway project, The Princeton at College Park, will add 206 apartments and a parking garage to Smith Street.
3. Apopka, 32703
The historic city known for ferneries in northwest Orange County has experienced suburban growth during the last year with more construction on the way was as Florida Hospital prepares to open a facility at state roads 414 and 429 last this year. Wendover Housing Partners is a building an affordable apartment community with 120 units at Thompson Road and East First Street, with completion expected in November. The average price in December was $217,333 — up $76,000 from January.
4. Hunters Creek, Southchase, 32837
With dozens of neighborhoods spread across more than four square miles of south Orange County, Hunter's Creek unfolds from a town center near shopping at The Loop. Off John Young Parkway, Hunter’s Creek has been largely built out for years. The average sales price of $253,751 has not returned to peak levels of $286,297 for 2006.
5. Lake Baldwin, 32814
Built to resemble historic neighborhoods from the early 1900s, Baldwin Park developed atop a closed Naval Training Center starting in 2001. With alleys, porches, a main street of shops, and an increasing mix of apartments, the 1,100-acre community a few miles east of downtown Orlando had average sales prices of $547,917 in December, which topped peak-market prices from a decade ago.
6. Zellwood, 32798
With just about 100 sales in 2016, Zellwood had a relatively thin track record of home purchases last year. But prices increased from an average $57,383 to $121,855. Prices at the long-time haven for snowbirds in northwest Orange County have surpassed peak-market prices from 2006. The affordable enclave draws some golfers and is home to the Sydonie mansion constructed in 1895 by steel magnate John Laughlin Jr. and the White House at Zellwood Station.
7. Meadow Woods, Taft, 32824
With dozens of neighborhoods built in the 1980s, Meadow Woods is located just southwest of Orlando International Airport and east of Florida’s Turnpike — and poised to get a SunRail commuter rail station this year. Average home prices rose from $187,560 in January to $246,759 but remained about $15,000 below peak-market prices of 2006. Sales were robust with 751 closings.
8. Winter Springs, Tuscawilla, Casselberry, 32708
The suburban pocket of Seminole County east of U.S. Highway 17-92 and west of State Road 417 is largely built out with some new-home sales in the $300s off Seminola Boulevard in Casselberry. Golf, tennis and bike trails dot the area that spreads just southwest of Lake Jesup. Even though average prices there increased from $190,278 to $247,550, they are still about $50,000 below peak-market levels of 2006.
9. Apopka, 32712
Neighborhoods north of U.S. Highway 441 in Apopka range from streets of older, affordable houses to larger homes on the rolling terrain of Errol Estates. Several new subdivisions are under construction off Vick and Ponkan roads with prices in the low $300,000 range. Overall, average prices rose from $214,229 in January to $271,412 in December but remain about $30,000 below historic highs in 2006.
10. Gotha, 34734
A historic enclave tucked between Ocoee and Windermere, Gotha is home to the Nehrling Gardens, Zion Lutheran Church circa 1915, and Yellow Dog Eats Café in the historic Fishers Country Store. Even though it had limited sales for the year, including just four purchases in January and five in December, Gotha prices appeared to return to their glory days. Average prices increased from $298,475 at the start of the year to $354,000 by year’s end. Those December prices were about $10,000 higher than the market peak in 2006.
mshanklin@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5538; Twitter, @maryshanklin
