ORLANDO, Fla. — There appears to be good news for Central Florida’s real estate market after a very slow year in 2025. Statistics from January show a strong boost in the number of homes listed for sale and pending contracts.

What You Need To Know

Central Florida’s real estate market is seeing an increase in new listings and pending sales

Interest rates are decreasing to around six percent, boosting consumer confidence

Realtors are optimistic about continued momentum into spring and beyond

Adam Stark is looking for a five-bedroom house for his wife, three children and himself. His Realtor Tanin Teston is showing him houses in east Orlando. Stark says he and his wife have been looking for a slow two months but now they have momentum.

“When we originally started with our Realtor, it was one or two maybe a week, and now we’re starting to get more options, 3 or 4. So we’re starting to see that speed pick up,” Stark said.

Chris Atwell is President of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association or ORRA. He says after a pandemic-era boom, the metro Orlando market slowed during 2025, back into a more balanced market.

“You can look at it and say, oh, it’s a buyer’s market, but that’s not necessarily the case. It’s more of a buyer-leaning market at this time,” Atwell said.

ORRA’s latest statistics show Central Florida’s real estate market was still slow to end 2025, but it may be on the upswing.

Overall sales were down 25% from December through January, and homes for sale spent an average of 81 days on the market. That’s the highest number of days on the market in ten years.

But the numbers also reveal new listings rose 59% and homes under contract with pending sales rose 24% from December through January.

“The listings being increased and more properties coming on the market is a sign of consumer confidence coming back,” Atwell said.

Atwell points out interest rates are creeping down to about six percent, and the trend has more people putting their houses up for sale. He adds many buyers are getting more concessions from sellers so they can bring more cash to the closing table.

“Rates are coming down, which is a good thing. And buyer confidence, consumer confidence is going up,” Atwell said. “I think those are two ingredients for a very successful recipe for this spring market and even into the summer and fall.”

Stark is happy there are more houses to choose from. He is looking forward to finding the right house and getting his family moved in.

“I will definitely be relieved because then my wife can get to decorating, and that is her favorite part,” Stark said.

Atwell adds that he will be looking closely at ORRA’s Central Florida first-quarter and second-quarter sales numbers to see just how much momentum the real estate market will have in the second half of 2026.