Orlando Multifamily Report – March 2022
Central Florida is recording one of the country's strongest rental markets.
Orlando rent evolution, click to enlarge
Boosted by strong in-migration and above-average job growth, Orlando’s multifamily market performed well throughout 2021. This year started on a high note as well, with rents up 0.8 percent on a trailing three-month basis as of January, nearly three times the U.S. rate.
Orlando added 103,600 jobs in the 12 months ending in November, up 6.7 percent and 210 basis points above the U.S. rate. As the health crisis slowly subsides, international tourists are gradually returning to the metro’s expanding theme parks. Several projects are underway across all major entertainment venues, with Universal announcing plans for its fourth Orlando theme park.
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Orlando sales volume and number of properties sold, click to enlarge
Meanwhile, the first phase of the $3.8 billion, multiyear upgrade at Orlando International Airport is wrapping up, with substantial completion expected by the end of the first quarter. Additionally, Brightline’s expansion to Orlando is roughly 70 percent complete, with the rail company launching its first test runs between West Palm Beach and Cocoa earlier this year.
Stock additions have been generous in the past few years, with deliveries peaking at 12,948 units in 2021. Also encouraged by very low interest rates, investors spent $5.7 billion on Orlando rental assets last year, setting a new record. Despite rent growth bound to return to more sustainable levels nationally, Yardi Matrix expects the average Orlando rate to rise 6.1 percent in 2022.
