The Clubhouse at Toll Brothers’ Royal Cypress Preserve, located
in southwest Orlando across from Disney’s Grand Cypress Golf
Club, includes a fitness center, meeting rooms and a large pool.
Within the community, the company’s two-story Bravaro model
(facing page) has 2,590 square feet and is priced from $591,595.
Thinking about buying a home and relocating to Central Florida? You’re
not alone. Among the more than 900 people who move to Florida each day,
a great many of them find their way to Central Florida.
From 2016 to 2017, the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area — Lake, Orange,
Osceola and Seminole counties — grew by 2.3 percent to more than 2.5 million people,
according to the Orlando Economic Partnership. Estimates today put that number
above 2.7 million. That’s the fastest growth rate of the 30 largest MSAs in U.S.
Jeffrey Fagan, president
of the Orlando Regional
Realtors Association and
regional president with
Watson Realty Corp.
Who can blame potential new
residents when you consider what
awaits them? An affordable real-
estate market with plenty of newhome
choices, a strong jobs market
with an unemployment rate of about
3 percent, good schools, tons of outdoor
recreation, culture and sports
— and, of course, the weather.
“Orlando is well known for its mild
weather, centralized location and
world-class recreational and entertainment
facilities,” says Jeffrey
30 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Fagan, president of the Orlando Regional Realtors Association
(ORRA) and regional vice president with Watson Realty Corp.
“Orlando also boasts economic factors — such as strong
job growth — that supports a healthy real-estate market
with a wide variety of neighborhood types and community
settings.”
Homebuyers like what they see. In 2018 more than 42,000
homes were sold in the MSA’s four counties, according to the
ORRA. The median sales price for that area was $226,500. While
most of those sales were single-family homes, condominiums
and townhouses also figured strongly in the mix.
Home hunters will find all manner of options, from one- and
two-story dwellings to gated communities with resort-style