Relief can come for long-suffering tenants in Jacksonville.
Two new studies show that the rise in rents is slowing. The asking price for a new lease in Jacksonville actually dropped in November, according to a study.
The price for new tenants here fell 1.85% to $1,582 a month, real estate firm Redfin reported on Tuesday. It was the 10th biggest drop In the United States, Jacksonville was one of 14 metro areas where asking rents fell, Redfin said.
Compare that with cities like Raleigh, North Carolina, where rents rose 21.8% last month, the biggest increase nationally.
Outside of Jacksonville, all metropolitan areas in Florida saw rising asking rents, Redfin said. But the 7.4% increase nationwide was the smallest in 15 months and the sixth month in a row when the rate of increase slowed.
The data reflects the current cost of a new lease, not the median of what all tenants are paying.
“Rent growth is expected to continue to slow,” wrote Chen Zhao, head of economic research at Redfin. “We expect cuts to become more common in the new year. This should ultimately help to slow inflation further.”
Researchers at two Florida universities came to a similar conclusion. The study by Florida Atlantic and Florida Gulf Coast universities, as well as the University of Alabama, found “further evidence that the rental crisis is easing across the country.”
Sixty-eight of 100 housing markets recorded lower average rental rates in October, compared with 38 in September, the researchers found. The ranking includes all rents paid, based on Zillow rental data.
The study attributes the slowdown in rents largely to the construction of new rental properties.
“It appears that an increase in supply has helped relieve price pressure on rental accommodation across the country – and that’s exactly what needed to happen,” said Ken H. Johnsoneconomist at the FAU College of Business. “Additional supply appears to be coming from the delivery of units under construction, an increase in unit density, and the conversion of many Airbnb-like units to long-term rentals.”
Despite the slowdown, rental rates remain high in some markets, including Florida. says the study.
The average rent in Jacksonville rose just 0.28% from September to October, but the price was still 8.31% higher than a year ago, according to the study.
Jacksonville’s annual increase was the lowest of Florida’s nine cities.
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