Southwest Florida apartment rental market is one of the hottest in the state — and the nation

A new national real estate report shows that for the most part, small metro areas are the hottest rental apartment markets.

Eugene, Oregon, San Diego and Knoxville, Tennessee are the top three on the report, from apartment search website RentCafe. The study analyzed 105 markets nationwide, with metrics that included number of days rentals were vacant; percentage of apartments occupied; number of renters competing for vacant apartments; and rental applicants’ average credit scores. The gist: high demand, low apartment availability and renters with high credit scores equal a superhot market.