A study by Apartment List recently noted a surge in rent price in Jacksonville with a 1.8 percent month-over-month increase, a large jump when comparing monthly rental figures.
However, with Florida’s homeownership rate hovering at about 64 percent with the trend pointing to continued decreases, Jacksonville’s apartment experts see steady rental increases for the First Coast.
Andrew Woo, a data scientist with the Apartment List, said that rents have increased in Jacksonville by 3 percent when compared to last year’s data.
“We’ve seen rent growth slow in Miami and Fort Lauderdale but rents have been rising rapidly in Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee, and Tampa,” he said. “Rising rents are due to the construction of new apartments failing to keep up with demand, putting pressure on prices in many cities.”
While a national decline in homeownership rates as well as continued job growth were pointed out as the forces behind rental rate increase, one broker had a simple solution as to why Jacksonville rents are increasing.
Jim Reed, who’s a director at Franklin Street, said the reason landlords are able to increase rents is because occupancy rates are near all-time highs.
“From the owners I talk to, it seems like the tenants can carry the increase,” he said.
