Florida’s real estate landscape is headed toward a downward spiral as rental prices in Miami, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa have gone down fast over the past year. As a result of this downward trend, a growing number of real estate investors are starting to flee the state in search of greener pastures. Those who remain wonder if this is a sign of worse things to come or if things will improve eventually.
According to Redfin, rental costs have dropped by as much as 5% in Miami and Jacksonville while the other major areas like Orlando and Tampa saw declines of 4.3% and 3.2%, respectively.
After years of successive rent increases, this drop isn’t all that surprising. However, we should mention that this slide comes just as the Florida Chamber of Commerce reports that fewer people are moving into the Sunshine State while more are moving out.
This slowed growth presents a problem for the real estate industry in Florida.
As a result of this, experts have sound advice for real estate investors: stay away from Florida. Instead, consider looking at properties in other nearby markets. Areas such as South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and the Midwest, are all rife with opportunity. These are places that offer long-term opportunities with significantly lower buy-in prices.