ORLANDO, Fla. — Depending on how you look at it, the past few weeks have been relieving or stressful for College Park resident Priscilla Cunkel.


Charter Communications has temporarily opened its live stream free to the public. You can watch Spectrum News via our live stream on your desktop or laptop without a subscription by visiting our website and clicking “Watch Live” in the upper right. Charter also is temporarily offering free broadband and wifi access for 60 days to teachers and families with K-12 or college students. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395. The company also will open more than half a million wifi hotspots across the country.


Her home went up for sale at the end of February, before daily life was upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Within a week, her home sold.

Talk about timing.

“No, we didn’t really know much about it at that point," Kunkel said. "It wasn’t a big thing" at the time.

Now, the coronavirus has prompted curfews, social distancing, and business closures.

Thomas Cook is a real estate agent for Anne Rogers Realty group in Orlando. He’s been selling real estate in Central Florida for just over 15 years. So far, the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t halted his business.

"You know we got Orlando going for us," Cook said. "We are a place people want to be, College Park especially, and a desirable downtown. I don’t think we are seeing price erosion unless there is a need of that seller to get out quickly.”

It's not home prices that are the issue for real estate agents and buyers, it's inventory — just ask Cunkel, who is now looking for a new home.

“It's not going great," she said. "I am on the other side of it now, and there is not a lot of inventory out there and not much to see.“

That indicates that buying or selling hasn’t been impacted price-wise.

“I think it is a good time for both," Cook said. "It is harder for buyers, because the inventory is so low in the under-$400,000 price point.”

In front of her home that is now pending a sale, Cunkel is struggling to find her next home sweet home.

"It’s really a sellers market," she said. "The prices are pretty high still, so finding that forever home is a real challenge for us right now.”

According to Cook, this time a year ago in College Park, there were almost 130 homes on the market. This March, it's been about 100. 

"The Orlando market has had a low inventory for really this extends back for years," Cook said outside a College Park home for sale. "Especially in the lower end, especially in the downtown markets that are so popular to live in.”

With social distancing and fewer open houses for potential buyers like Cunkel, she and her family have now gone about their home search a little differently by looking at virtual tours and online galleries.

If you are a potential home buyer and are being cautious about visiting someone’s home to look at, ask your real estate or listing agent if the home you are looking at offers a virtual tour.