Rental rates for single-family homes in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area increased an average of 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to the same period in 2015.
RentRange Data Services also reported that the vacancy rate among houses for rent in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area was 5.3 percent in last year’s fourth quarter.
Miami-Fort Lauderdale is one of six metropolitan areas in Florida where the pace of rent increases for single-family homes rank among the 25 fastest in the nation, according to RentRange.
House rents rose, on average, at an annual rate of 10.9 percent in the fourth quarter in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area, the second-fastest increase among U.S. metro areas. The 7 percent increase last year in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area ranked 11th among U.S. metro areas.
The comparable annual rates of house-rent hikes were 7.7 percent in the Daytona Beach area (10th nationally), 5.8 percent the Tampa-St. Petersburg area (19th nationally), and 5 percent in Lakeland and 4.8 percent in the Orlando area (24th and 25th, respectively, in the nation).
Statewide, the highest fourth-quarter metro vacancy rates among houses for rent were 11.4 percent in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, 8.5 percent in Tampa-St. Petersburg, and 8 percent in Lakeland. The lowest vacancy rates were 5.3 percent in Miami-Fort Lauderdale and 4.6 percent in the Daytona Beach area. – Mike Seemuth