Florida Apartment Demand Rebounds in 2024, Catching Up to Supply

Across the state of Florida, apartment demand volumes are catching up to elevated supply.

Florida was a state that benefitted heavily from the work-from-home trend seen during the pandemic. Since then, migration into the state has continued, with even the smaller markets gaining notable ground. Apartment demand volumes peaked in 2021 and then slowed significantly in 2023 before picking back up again.

Meanwhile, Florida has been among the nation’s fastest growing states for apartment supply in recent years. While completion volumes continue to grow, demand is rapidly catching up.

Roughly 77,600 units came online in Florida in the year-ending 3rd quarter, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. That was the biggest annual completion tally in Florida since RealPage has been tracking apartment markets in the state. In comparison, Florida’s five-year average for annual deliveries clocked in at just over 48,700 units.

Meanwhile, after its annual peak in 2021, apartment demand in Florida has gone through some peaks and valleys. More recently, demand is headed once again for a peak. In the year-ending 3rd quarter, Florida demand reached nearly 68,000 units, very close to record supply volumes.

A handful of Floria apartment markets have seen incredible inventory growth recently. In fact, since 2020, nine of the nation’s 30 fastest growing apartment markets were in Florida. Lakeland saw its inventory increase by 39% over the past four years, ranking #2 nationwide behind only Huntsville, AL. Other Florida markets ranking within the nation’s top quintile for inventory growth since 2020 were Cape Coral (28%), Sarasota, Jacksonville, Palm Bay, Port St. Lucie, Deltona, Orlando and Pensacola (all around 20%).

Miami and Tampa have also been some of the nation’s most aggressively built apartment markets in the past four years or so, ranking high for both total deliveries as well as percentage gains.

Apartment demand has continued on a steep trajectory across the state of Florida since 2020. Ranking markets by percentage gains in occupied unit counts, the list looks very similar to the supply growth ranking. That’s because supply largely follows demand.

Florida markets ranking among the nation’s top 20 for occupied unit count increase since 2020 include Lakeland, Cape Coral, Sarasota, Jacksonville and Palm Bay. In fact, only the Florida college markets like Gainesville and Tallahassee have lagged their state peers. While demand hasn’t been terrible in those markets, it has been limited compared to the rest of the state, and in direct relation to softer supply volumes.

For more information on the state of apartment markets in Florida, watch the webcast Market Intelligence: Q4 Florida Update.