Rents Seem to Be Falling Everywhere – Except in Florida
New study has Cape Coral-Fort Myers, North Port-Bradenton, and Miami among the most overvalued.
Even as rents fall nationwide, many cities in Florida remain overvalued for renters, according to the Waller Weeks and Johnson Rental Index, a collaboration by researchers from Florida Atlantic University, The University of Alabama, and Florida Gulf Coast University.
In December, rents fell in 71 of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, indicating that the U.S. rental crisis is easing, even as markets in Florida remain overvalued and unaffordable for many consumers.
Florida checks boxes when it comes to supply and demand and high rents. The state lost many units to recent hurricanes; and it is in the popular Sunbelt area, where rent relief is happening much slower in the Sun Belt states, according to the report.
Cape Coral-Fort Myers Most Overvalued in US
The report found that Cape Coral-Fort Myers was the most overpriced rental market in the nation, where renters paid 17.85 percent more than they should be based on a history of rents. The average rent in December there was $2,251.39, up 1.25 percent from November.
Shelton Weeks, Ph.D., of Florida Gulf Coast University’s Lucas Institute for Real Estate Development & Finance, said in prepared remarks that many units there were destroyed in the storm, while others were severely damaged.
“The market already had a limited supply of [apartment homes] so it is not shocking to see rents in December jump in Cape Coral. We still have quite a way to go before the rental market in Southwest Florida normalizes.”
North Port-Bradenton is the next most overvalued market with a 14.72 percent premium, followed by Miami at 14.66 percent.