Apartment rent rate increases wildly outpace many other parts of the country

Another week brings another opportunity for towns and cities across the region to lead the way in a national report of super-hot and overheated apartment rental markets. And the region, like it has been doing, came through.

The latest: The west coast of Florida’s four most populous MSAs — Naples-Marco Island, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater — all make the top 20 of a new report, titled 2022’s Most Expensive Areas to Rent. The report, from tech and data firm Lawn Love, looked at average rent prices (including year-over-year change), renters insurance premiums, and the share of renters spending 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities. Lawn Love analyzed 185 rental markets for its report.

Florida is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, thanks in part to the lack of state income tax and lots of sunshine,” the report states. “With an in-demand housing market, it's no wonder 10 out of our top 30 most expensive metros are in the Sunshine State.”

Other highlights from the report include:

• The top three markets nationally with the biggest one-year change in rent are local.
• The Naples-Marco Island area saw the most significant change in average overall rent price: an increase of nearly 28% in the past year. 
• One data point that actually skips the region, but sticks to Florida overall, is highest share of cost-burdened renters. In that category, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach is No. 1, followed by Gainesville. Port St. Lucie is tied for No. 5.