The coronavirus pandemic has made homebuying harder -- here’s how

Number of available homes for sale continues to drop, report says

ORLANDO, Fla. – A new report from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association shows the number of available homes for sale dropped 22.1% in August compared to a year ago and dropped nearly 5% compared to July.

Reese Stewart serves as president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, which covers Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

“We’re at a historical low,” he said. “Prices are going up, which is a great thing, but sellers aren’t going to put their house on the market if there’s no place to buy, so that’s concerning.”

[TRENDING: ‘My son lost his life over Burger King’ | StarFlyer tower climber describes seeing co-worker fall to death | Are you getting political text messages?]

The report points out that housing economists generally consider a 5- to 6-month supply to indicate a healthy market that is balanced between buyers and sellers, whereas Central Florida currently has less than a month’s supply, according to Stewart.

Of the homes sold, the report found the overall median price of Orlando homes in August was $275,000, which is 10% above the August 2019 median price of $250,000 and 1.9% above the July 2020 median price of $270,000.

The news comes after a recent report showed nearly 1,000 people moving to Florida every day.

A 2019 report by Orlando Economic Partnership predicted the Orlando area to “add more than 1,500 people to the region every week for the next 11 years, eventually reaching a population of 5.2 million people.” Leaders behind the report told News 6 that despite the pandemic, they are still projecting that growth for the future.

T. James Agosto stays busy during the pandemic as a realtor in Central Florida, with more activity on one home than he’d ever seen.

“In two days, we had 17 offers,” he said. “We saw a little decline during the April timeline, but after that, it’s pedal to the metal.”

With low interest rates and more people leaving northern states for the South, Agosto told News 6 he plans to see more demand continue through the year.

“They’re going for top price,” he said. “It’s an insane market right now.”


About the Author:

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

Recommended Videos