Cape Coral – The Most Overpriced Rental Market In The Continental United States
If you think rent in Cape Coral is too high, you're right. It absolutely is. And you'd have to head east past Miami and out of Florida to Puerto Rico to find a more overpriced rental market. The average rent in San Juan, Puerto Rico is $3,527.71 a month. Outside investors from the states are buying up properties and turning them into AIRBNBs. The tax benefits are clear, according to USA Today. "Americans who move existing or create qualifying businesses or investments to Puerto Rico can lower their federal income tax rate from up to 37% in the states to zero on income earned in Puerto Rico. " So that's what going on in Puerto Rico, but why is Cape Coral so high?
We're still seeing effects from Hurricane Ian in Southwest Florida. People that used to live on Fort Myers Beach, are now living in Cape Coral. People from out of town working on Sanibel are living in Cape Coral. One of my neighbors is actually housing people from Texas that are here working.
AIRBNB has also taken rentals off the market. Why rent your house to a family when you can charge tourists 4 times as much? It sucks, it's bad here, but how do we compare to other cities?
An updated study by the FAU College of Business determines rankings by figuring in the cost of rent versus what it SHOULD be.
And according to them, we're paying too much. There's actually quite a few places for rent right now. But you'll need to pay up.
Researchers from the study conducted at the FAU College Of Business say the premiums we pay in Florida probably won’t change much until more units are built. And with a shortage of building supplies and a large amount of people who want to move here, there’s no telling when that will happen in the Cape Coral Rental market.
Three columns under each city: The percentage of what they consider overpriced (the premium), the average rental price, followed by what FAU has computed the price of rent should be.
17 Dayton, OH
| 6.85% | $1,394.99 | $1,305.62 |
I started with this one because I came to Southwest Florida from Dayton 20 + years ago. For such a gloomy city they have no business charging this much.
16 Deltona, FL
| 7.02% | $1,904.58 | $1,779.61 |
It's a really nice place on a lake just north of Orlando.
15 Syracuse, NY
| 7.16% | $1,437.58 | $1,341.54 |
Rents in Syracuse are going up faster than other parts of New York.
14 New Haven, CT
| 7.21% | $1,887.28 | $1,760.34 |
Really not affordable there to anyone making less than $60K a year.
13 Springfield, MA
| 7.23% | $1,645.76 | $1,534.82 |
No. 2 in Dwellsy's "Top Ten Cities Where Rent Is Growing the Fastest,"
12 Greensboro, NC
| 7.35% | $1,436.84 | $1,338.43 |
Speaking of, these guys are leading the nation in rent increase.
11 Albuquerque, NM
| 7.51% | $1,515.79 | $1,409.93 |
Apartments went up 22% last year.
10 New York, NY
| 7.78% | $3,155.52 | $2,927.71 |
$3,155 per month is the city average. Manhattan is $4,175.
9 Tampa, FL
| 7.81% | $2,097.77 | $1,945.87 |
Add in that FPL rate increase we just had, too. This is going to be an expensive summer.
8 Madison, WI
| 7.89% | $1,461.99 | $1,355.13 |
If you can get past the cold, Madison is a nice place.
7 Charleston, SC
| 9.19% | $1,973.30 | $1,807.17 |
Rent there is up 25% yoy.
6 Knoxville, TN
| 10.23% | $1,708.70 | $1,550.11 |
We're now up over 10% overvalued on these markets. Supply and demand is crushing Knoxville renters. I saw an occupancy rate nearing 99%.
5 El Paso, TX
| 10.89% | $1,484.27 | $1,338.52 |
Trying to save money in Texas? Move to Odessa.
4 North Port, FL
| 11.31% | $2,460.58 | $2,210.63 |
Our first Southwest Florida entry on the list. North Port rents out an average of $2460 a month. About a $250 premium to where the price should be. But it's supply and demand.
3 Miami, FL
| 11.56% | $2,782.06 | $2,493.71 |
Everything is expensive in Miami. That's why so many of them have moved to Lehigh. This is actually down from the January study. By about $50.
2 Cape Coral, FL
| 15.44% | $2,319.64 | $2,009.33 |
There we are, at a more than 15% premium to what should be the fair price. Rent, on average according to this study, is more than $2,300 a month. You can get a 3/2 house off Skyline for $2,400. A decent apartment where you're not constantly looking out the window to check on your car is at least $1,600. There's a reason why we all have 2 jobs (at least).
1 San Juan, PR
| 19.21% | $3,527.71 | $2,959.33 |
As I mentioned earlier, American investors are messing up the rental market in PR.
[Source: FAU]
