Economic Forecast | Tampa Bay

Real estate, property management
Justin Dean
President | Dean & Dewitt Property Management

Company: Dean predicts moderate growth for St. Petersburg-based Dean & Dewitt Property Management in 2017. “We've been in pretty fast growth mode over the past two years,” he says. “I still expect to grow, but the speed of growth is not going to be as fast.”

That's in part due to the fact that Dean isn't seeing as many real estate investors in the market these days, which causes everything to slow down some. But he expects demand for rentals to stay high. “As property values continue to rise, it makes it harder to buy property,” he says. “So even though some renters might make the decision to buy, just as many people will say 'I can't buy so I need to rent.'”