According to data gathered by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, the median resale price of a home in Central Florida is about $250,000. At a quarter of a million dollars, most first time home buyers are effectively priced out of the housing market. But believe it or not, it is still possible to find an Orlando condo for under $100,000. And that could prove to be a vital first foot on the property ladder. In other words, condos are still affordable - just. But they probably won’t be in a couple of year’s time. Remember that between 2004 and 2005, the median resale price of a home in the Orlando area rose more than 60% according to ORRA and although prices are now dropping again, it is still likely that within the next decade, Orlando will be just another expensive city that regular folk can’t afford to live in - unless you’ve played your hand well today. Which means not allowing fear to make you keep your strongest cards until last.

Good card players play their cards at pivotal moments in the game. Aces are not your favorite pieces of candy in the packet, to keep until last so you can savor them at your leisure. When I did that as a kid, my friends would usually steal them right in front of me and then claim that because I wasn’t eating them, they figured I didn’t want them.

Like other markets, the Orlando condo market has suffered in recent months. A number of downtown condominium projects are now on hold – some have been cancelled indefinitely. But there’s also a sense that despite all the gloom and doom, the Orlando condo market appears to be weathering the storm better than many other urban markets. It’s fully expected that Orlando will be one of the first cities to exit the recent downturn, and there are reasons to suppose that even the mid-term condominium picture looks fairly healthy. Here are a few of them:

1.) Industry continues to move here. Last week, another simulation company moved to Orlando citing Orlando as the “capital of simulation.” Who knew? This week Lockheed Martin scored another $48 million contract.

2.) With so much industry moving here, unemployment is still at record lows. Unemployment was just 3.3% for January 2007.

3.) The number of Spring visitors are up. Last week, Orbitz placed Orlando as # 1 in it’s recent list of favorite spring break destinations - for non-students. How cool is that? An influx of cash, minus the beer and the hormones. Hotels are sold out.

For a variety of reasons then (including, of course, the… shhhh… m.o.u.s.e.) Orlando has been pretty well shielded from the brunt of the recent housing “correction” – at least, compared with other Florida cities and other condo-heavy states. And despite a slower market at present, the future of real estate and yes, even the condominium market, looks very bright for Orlando - which is slated for a massive amount of growth over the next decade.