TAMPA, Fla. — While rent prices across the United States saw the biggest jump in June since late 2022, Florida is "bucking the national trend" and seeing lower rates in some of its most populous metros, including the Tampa Bay area.
According to a recent report from Redfin, the Sunshine State's four most populous metros are seeing a decline in rent prices, which skyrocketed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jacksonville reportedly saw the largest drop in rent rates, with prices dropping 12.4 percent year-over-year in June. Here in the Tampa metro area, year-over-year rent prices dropped by 6 percent.
Orlando and Miami, too, saw rent prices decrease by 4.8 and 3.8 percent, respectively.
Redfin's report mentioned Austin, Texas, rent prices dropped by 12.6 percent, the largest decline among the 33 large metro areas the real estate company gathers data on. But the metro was the only one in Texas to see a significant drop in rent prices. San Diego and San Francisco in California also saw big asking-rent declines, 11.4 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively.
One reason Florida is seeing rent rates decline now stems from all of the new apartment buildings built during the pandemic to keep up with the rising demand after thousands of people moved to the Sunshine State. Now that the population surge has slowed down, Redfin explains property owners are lowering prices to compete and attract tenants.
However, just because the rental market in Florida is cooling doesn't mean prices are as affordable as before the pandemic. Around the same time, housing construction boomed and wealthier people from states like California and New York moved to the state, Redfin says the market "overheated" and priced many people out of the area.
Only now are prices "coming back down to earth."
Currently, a one-bedroom apartment in the Tampa metro area averages between $1,600 and $1,900, depending on which rental site you visit.
Rents in Tampa surged as much as 37.8 percent year-over-year in 2022, surging more than double the nationwide gain at the time, Redfin said.
And because of the ongoing home insurance crisis in Florida, Redfin experts say tenants could ultimately be stuck footing the bill through future rent hikes.
“It’s a good time to hunt for bargains if you’re a renter in Florida or Austin,” Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said in a statement. “With so much supply on the market, renters may be able to get concessions like free parking or discounted rent. But renters in Florida should be aware that landlords are grappling with surging home insurance costs, and they may ultimately ask tenants to foot the bill via higher rents.”
Most of the nation is seeing higher rent prices because homebuying markets continue to be unaffordable, especially for younger renters who, in the past, would be buying their first home. Redfin posits the reason rents haven't skyrocketed across the U.S. is due to the still large number of new apartments opening, meaning landlords are a bit limited in jacking up prices because they are trying to attract renters.