The month of April was a good one for the Orlando real estate market.  2,461 properties were sold last month, which was up by one-third from a year ago. Existing home home sales prices were up for a third straight month, and foreclosure activity was down by one-fourth from a month earlier.  2/3 of all existing -home sales were from distress sales.  Bank owned houses accounted for 46% of all sales, while the remainder of the distress deals in the overall total were short sales.  Orlando's median house price increased to $115,000 a gain of 5 percent from March, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association's monthly report.  The midpoint price in April for "normal" homes sales was $160,000; for short sales, $115,000; and for bankowned sales $72,900.  The prices have all increased since the prior month.

The evidence of the April 30th homebuyer tax-credit deadline was evident in what appeared to be a record number of new contracts filed: 5,221, or a 53 percent increase from a year earlier.