Rent rises twice as fast in Orlando as in rest of country

ORLANDO, Fla. — A new report from Zillow ranked Orlando fourth in the ten hottest real estate markets.

Channel 9’s Angela Jacobs found that Orlando rents have risen twice as fast as anywhere else in the country.

Nationally, rents are on the decline, but because of Orlando’s booming population and job growth, it’s expected to drive up the competition and the prices.

“What I'm paying in rent right now is horrendous,” said Adam Strand, a WFTV engineer.

Even though he and his wife have three months left on their lease, Strand just found out they only have 28 days to decide if they'll stay in their Disney-area apartment. If they miss that deadline, their rent will jump more than a $100.

“Even if you do re-sign, your rent is still going up. Both add insult to injury to us,” Strand said.

It’s all part of an 8 percent increase reported for Orlando rents the past year. That number is expected to keep rising at least another 3.6 percent in 2017.

“We've seen prices increase to 6 to 7 percent year over year and if they do that again, suddenly you're looking at a double-digit increase where you've paid rent and essentially you really haven't bought anything,” said Bruce Elliott, president of Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

He said what’s fueling the increase is that consumer confidence is the highest it's been since 2004, in addition to last year’s population boom of 200,000 people moving to Central Florida.

“Never have we seen in the last five to six years has there been a better opportunity to buy,” Elliott said.

Cox Media Group