Miami-Dade County continued to lead the nation this year as the “most competitive” apartment market, with the highest number of prospective tenants vying for an available unit, according to a new report by RentCafe.
On average, 22 renters competed for the same apartment, much more than the national average of nine renters vying for a unit. A vacant unit in Miami-Dade would lease in roughly a month this year, or a week faster than the national average of 38 days, the RentCafe study shows.
The competition for units partly is due to tenants who already have a unit opting to stay put, with 71.2 percent of tenants opting to renew their leases instead of move.
The findings come amid a multifamily building frenzy that resulted in a 3.7 percent increase in Miami-Dade’s supply this year, according to RentCafe.
Developers completed nearly 13,400 units across South Florida in the first three quarters of the year, more than the 13,210 apartments finished in all of last year, according to data from brokerage Lee & Associates.
Although the supply didn’t alleviate demand for units, it did temper record rental hikes that defined the period from late 2020 to late last year. In the third quarter, the tri-county region’s average monthly asking rent was $2,121, a 1 percent increase from the same period of last year, Lee’s data shows.
This marks a significant slowdown from rent growth experienced in recent years. In May of last year, South Florida rents rose 45.8 percent, year-over-year, Realtor.com reported.
Miami-Dade also ranked as the nation’s “most competitive” rental market last year, with an average of 32 renters vying for the same unit. The national average last year was 14 tenants competing for the same unit.
This year’s RentCafe report ranked North Shore, New Jersey, as the second “most competitive” market, with an average of 14 prospective tenants trying to snag an available unit. North Shore’s apartment supply increased 2 percent this year.