Rents in the Jacksonville metro area in 2023 fell slightly through July, according to Yardi Matrix, a real estate research division of Yardi.
In its “Jacksonville’s Adjustment: Multifamily Report,” rents in the metro area fell by 0.2% while nationally they rose 0.3%. Through July, Jacksonville’s average rent was $1,533 compared with the national average of $1,729.
The report released in the first week of October measures rental, employment and other economic statistics. Here is a gleaning of that report:
• Jacksonville is experiencing an uptick in new apartment units. This is expected to extend the decline in rent prices into next year.
• Through July, 2,546 units were added. The report expects that by the end of this year, another 5,392 units will be added to the inventory.
• The market is awash in lifestyle apartments with rents averaging $1,697 per month. Lifestyle renters are defined as those who could buy but opt to rent. This reflects a 3.2% decline year-over-year through July.
• One affordable workplace housing building in Ridgewood opened with 96 new units. However, the renter-by-necessity category, or those who can’t afford to buy, saw an average rent of $1,317, a 2.7% increase from July 2022.
• Developers had 14,631 units under construction through July and another 37,000 are in planning. Of those, 95.2% are lifestyle units while just 3.4% are fully affordable communities.
• The largest project to open this year is the 372-unit Bainbridge Avenues Walk in Bayard. It was constructed by Bainbridge Companies. It took out a $48.5 million construction loan from First Citizens Bank & Trust.
• The highest price sale this year is Olympus Preserve at Town Center, which was acquired by Olympus Properties the Presidium Group for $97.5 million making the unit price $263,514.
• The two most expensive areas to rent in the metro area were Neptune Beach, $1,858, and St. Augustine, $1,767.
• According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment through June was 3% in the market, which is lower than the U.S. rate of 3.6%. Overall the state unemployment rate was 2.6%.
• Employment in the Jacksonville metro increased by 31,800 jobs through May. That’s up 4.9% year-to-year. Nationally the number of new jobs during the same period increased 2.8%.
• Two sectors that showed growth were leisure and hospitality with 6,400 more jobs and professional and business services with 6,000 more jobs. The market has 12 hotels under construction with most of them opening this year. Another 17 are in planning.
• People are still moving to the area. The market gained 26,278 new residents in 2021 showing growth of 1.6% to bring the population to 1,637,66.
Yardi provides software solutions for the real estate industry with 40 offices throughout North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia.