Local rents continue to rise

That rent is skyrocketing in Tampa and St. Petersburg is news to no one who’s been paying attention.

But how fast and far it’s gone up, may be.

According to the Zumper National Rent Report issued in late November, out of the 100 most populated cities nationwide seeing the largest rent spikes this year, four were in Florida. St. Petersburg had the third highest jump in the cost of rent for the entire country. Tampa was No. 5

Not to be outdone, Miami led the nation in rent increases. Orlando was No. 7.

Zumper is an online platform that connects landlords and renters.

With the current state of rental prices, Tampa is the No. 24 most expensive city to rent an apartment in in the country, with the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment going up 24% from a year ago to $1,550. St. Petersburg came in at No. 20, with the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment up 24.6% from a year ago to, $1,620.

Tampa ranked No. 36 on last year’s list and St. Petersburg was No. 46.

Florida is not alone in seeing rents going up.

Zumper reports that nationally rent on a one-bedroom apartment was up 12.1% and 13.2% on two-bedroom units this year. One-bedroom rents rose 0.3% in 2019 and 0.6% in 2020.

“One theory of rising rent in 2021 is that rent is catching up to home prices after the historical correlation was broken,” the report’s authors say, citing housing prices post-pandemic. “At some point, rent will have caught up, achieved a new equilibrium and will begin to move in sync with each other.”