Rent prices are falling across Florida and these US cities

Rent prices are dropping across Florida and these US cities

Florida's four largest metros have all seen rents fall over the past year
Austin, Texas is another city where rents have plunged
A construction boom in Florida and Texas has helped stabilize prices

Updated: Jul 11, 2024 / 04:30 PM EDT

FILE: View of the modern architecture of downtown Jacksonville, Fl along the St. Johns River. (Getty)

(NewsNation) — Florida is home to the fastest-cooling housing markets in the country, and a new report suggests that trend also applies to apartment rents, which are falling across the state.

The Sunshine State’s four most-populated metro areas are seeing rents decline even as prices continue to rise nationally, according to a new Redfin analysis.

In Jacksonville, the median apartment asking rent of $1,494 is down 12.4% from a year ago, the second-biggest drop in the nation. Tampa posted a 6% drop of its own, the largest decline since at least 2019. Orlando (-4.8%) and Miami (-3.8%) have also seen rent prices fall over the past year.

The cooldown will come as welcome news to Floridians who have seen rents surge faster than the national average in recent years after the state became a popular destination during the pandemic.

Throughout much of 2022, rents in the state’s four largest cities were up more than 25% from the year prior, Redfin data shows. At one point, in Feb. 2022, rent prices in Tampa were 38% higher than the year before, more than double the nationwide gain at the time.

The skyrocketing demand prompted a wave of new construction, which has helped ease prices.

Austin, Texas, is the other city where a building boom has significantly lowered rents. The median apartment asking rent there is down 12.6% from a year ago, the biggest decline in the country.

“With so much supply on the market, renters may be able to get concessions like free parking or discounted rent,” Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said in a statement.

There is a caveat, Bokhari noted: Florida landlords are grappling with surging home insurance costs, which could ultimately get passed on to tenants.

National data suggests apartment builders are starting to slow down, a consequence of elevated interest rates and a sign supply may be tighter in the years ahead.

The good news for Floridians is that their new apartments are among the largest in the country, particularly in cities like Gainesville and Tallahassee, according to a recent RentCafe analysis.

Nationally, the median apartment asking rent was $1,654 in June, up 0.7% from the year prior, per Redfin.

Meanwhile, rent prices are rising in several Midwest and Northeast metros because those regions haven’t been building as many apartments as the Sun Belt. Asking rents are up more than 12% in Virginia Beach and Cincinnati compared to a year ago. Chicago has also seen rents jump 11%.

Cities where asking rents are falling fastest from a year ago, according to Redfin: