South Florida and Bay Area Truly a Tale of Two Apartment Markets
Florida rent growth leads the nation, while San Francisco’s has been tepid at best.
Population growth and employment gains have combined to create the greatest disparity in rent growth percentage between key apartment markets since the pandemic, according to RealPage Analytics.
While in South Florida apartment growth is climbing – performing better than in any area in the country – the opposite is the case for the Bay Area in Northern California.
Population loss and a still-recovering jobs market have caused apartment rents to stagnate across the Bay since early 2020.
South Florida is comprised of three markets including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, where effective rents have climbed by the highest dollar differential in the nation since February 2020, equating to a more than 43% jump in four years.
The three Bay Area markets San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland have seen rent all but flatline since February 2020 – and even declined in the case of San Francisco.
Rents today are averaging around $2,500 in South Florida and about $2,960 in the Bay Area whereas average effective rents have climbed approximately one quarter nationwide, according to analyst Julia Bunch.
It goes even further in the Sunshine State. Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach take the no. 2 and no. 3 spots, respectively, and Tampa (42.5%), Jacksonville (32.3%), and Orlando (31.9%) all reported cumulative price hikes well above the national norm over the last four years.
The Bay Area since the pandemic has recorded population loss while South Florida continues to gain residents for both jobs and retirement.
Bunch said that all three South Florida markets have grown total employment at a rate faster than the national norm – more like double – since early 2020.
The Bay Area has yet to recover all the jobs lost from the pandemic as its total employment gains have been tepid over the last four years.
Multifamily Spring:
Multifamily Spring is coming to New York City this April 18. This year’s program will bring together the industry’s most influential and knowledgeable real estate executives from the multifamily sector for 5 hours of face-to-face networking and over 5.5 hours of can’t miss sessions. Learn more or register here.