Can’t Afford the Rental Market?

Up, up and away.

That’s what you might call Orlando’s rental market, long regarded as one of the U.S.’s most affordable. But no more, as viewed by a new report. Apartment renters in the area are now spending more than one third of their incomes (34.3 percent) to pay landlords, according to a study by the RealtyTrac real estate research company. There’s no let-up expected in Orlando rents, either. RealtyTrac predicts rents will rise to an average of $1,130 by 2019. Even with higher rents, however, there’s no guarantee future buildings will meet expected demand. The only consolation is that the average rents are not nearly as high as they are in New York City, where renters pay an average of two-thirds of their wages.

If you can’t afford the rental market, you may want to consider buying a home, which is long-term investment. Check out our listings or get set up with one our experienced agents today!

Speaking of the rental market…

Orlando is adding new apartments all the time throughout Central Florida (downtown’s latest groundbreaking development was the 233-unit Citi Tower near the city’s landmark, Lake Eola), and that’s also the case for a new complex in Oviedo. The suburban city set construction work to start this fall on a $200 million, 108-acre town center development called Oviedo on the Park. It includes retail (14,500 square feet) and the Park Place apartment complex (275-units). It will also have an amphitheater, a veteran’s memorial park, and a paddle boat complex. It even has a dog park for your fur babies!  It’s located on the corner of City Plaza Way and Mitchell Hammock Road.

This area of town convenient to UCF (the second largest university in the US) and the growing high-tech industry is also becoming a hotbed for attractively priced homes.

More good news…

If rental rates are going up, foreclosures are going down in Orlando. Metro Orlando’s foreclosure rate in June was 4.8 percent, which was down 3.6 percent from a year ago. That report came from CoreLogic, and our rate here compares well with cities in Florida and throughout the U.S., which is a very good indicator, not only of the economy overall, but also a stronger housing market.