TAMPA, Fla. — Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from when the Tampa Tenants Union called on city officials for rent control.
A recent Redfin report shows homebuyers, many of whom have their eyes on Tampa, are looking to relocate as prices "skyrocket."
Data from January and February shows 32.3 percent of Redfin.com users were looking to pick up and move due to being priced out of their current area. That number is significantly up from 2019, before the pandemic began, where data showed only 26 percent of users were looking to relocate.
"With U.S. home prices up 16% year over year in February and mortgage rates jumping from last year’s record lows, many homebuyers are priced out of their local markets. One of the only options is relocating to a more affordable area, particularly for first-time buyers who aren’t able to use proceeds from selling one home to buy another," a press release reads.
The real estate brokerage site says the flexibility of working remotely has also been contributing to Americans moving to "relatively affordable areas."
The top three areas homebuyers are flocking to? Miami, Phoenix and Tampa.
Redfin says inflow numbers to the Tampa area jumped from 6,003 in 2021 to 9,052 in 2022 with the top out-of-state metro area looking to move to the city being Washington, DC.
You can read the full report here.
The estimated influx comes at a time when members of the Tampa Tenants Union are calling on city officials for rent control.
"You can probably find someone just walking on the street who has experienced a rent increase," Bratton Young, a member of the Tampa Tenants Union said. "We demand that city council or city officials do something about this crisis."
Tampa also recently opened a Rental and Move-in Assistance Program, offering $1 million from the city’s General Fund to give people move-in assistance and monthly financial literacy resources. It could help cover security deposits, first and last month's rent and subsidize monthly rent payments.
But it had to be paused a few days later when a city spokesperson said more than 960 applications for assistance were filed.
It was touted as an innovative way to help people in Tampa who were struggling to make payments as rent continues to soar with no end in sight. A single person making as much as $72,380 a year could potentially qualify due to the scope of the current rent crisis. The RMAP program was intended to cover gaps in support left by state and federal programs that come with certain rent limitations.