Miami-Dade County is the most competitive market for renters in the U.S., according to a recent report.
The report from rental listing website RentCafe scored 137 areas across the U.S. based on the average number of days an apartment stayed vacant, the percentage of occupied apartments, the number of prospective renters per available unit, and the lease renewal rate between the months of January and March.
Under that criteria, Miami-Dade County was ranked at No. 1 with a competitive score of 120. According to the report, apartments stayed vacant for an average of only 33 days – the shortest span of any other area in the top 20.
“Given these circumstances, a sky-high 72% of renters in [Miami-Dade] choose to stay put and renew their leases, said Esther Urmosi, communications specialist for RentCafe. “On top of that, 97.1% of apartments are already occupied here, which is above the national benchmark of 94%.”
In RentCafe’s previous report, released in March, North Jersey was named as the most competitive market in the U.S.
Ranked at No. 4 is Broward County where apartments remained vacant an average of 41 days, 95.5% of its apartments are occupied, 67.2% of its leases are renewed and 14 renters compete for each available apartment.
Palm Beach County was the No. 20 most competitive rental market where apartments stayed vacant an average of 38 days, 95% of the apartments are occupied, 11 prospective renters competing for each available apartment and there’s a 59.5% renewal rate.
Another three Florida communities made RentCafe’s top 20 most competitive market list: Southwest Florida (No. 3), Orlando (No. 8), and Tampa (No. 19).
“Developers in Florida have been busy completing new apartments. However, this is still not enough to keep up with pent-up demand, which is why Florida markets are claiming the first spots on our list,” the RentCafe report stated.
Source: SFBJ