Lakeland, FL Is One of the Nation’s Fastest Growing Apartment Markets

Some 2,565 units delivered in Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL in the year-ending 1st quarter 2024, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. Although that delivery load may not be an aggressive number nationally, those new units exapnded inventory a stellar 8.6%, ranking Lakeland #5 across the nation’s largest 150 markets. Lakeland’s most recent peformance follows an explosive acceleration in supply over the last four years. For perspective, the most recent 12-month delivery load came close to surperceding the total number of units this small Florida market east of Tampa received in all of 2010 to 2019, when a toatl of 2,884 units were added, expanding inventory an average of just 1.3% per year. However, in 2020 completions started to pick up. From 2020 to 2023, the market added a notable 6,605 units in just a three-year period, expanding inventory an average of 5.5% annually. Another 4,418 units were under construction as of 2024’s 1st quarter with about 3,675 of those units expected to deliver within the next four quarters, pushing inventory another 11.3%. Should all those units complete in the next year, that expansion rate would rank #3 in the U.S. among top 150 markets and eclipse the nation’s expected norm of 3.5%.