JUNE 14, 2019 | TRENTON TURNER
Market Stat: Vacancies Have Risen As Supply Outpaces Demand
Multifamily demand in Southwest Florida has merely kept pace with supply for most of the cycle. However, 2018 marked one of the largest waves of deliveries for the region as just over 2,800 units came online.
The chart above consists of aggregated supply and demand for multifamily units from Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties over the course of the cycle.
The elevated amount of supply pushed vacancies past 10% for the first time this cycle in 2018 – well above the historical average of around 7%. Vacancies are expected to fall throughout the rest of 2019 and into 2020, but still hold just above the historical norm for the Southwest Florida region.
Developers are looking to take advantage of Southwest Florida’s impressive population and job growth. The submarkets are some of the fastest growing in the country, which contributes to surging housing demand in the region. Younger renters and empty nesters have primarily comprised much of the renter pool in the Southwest Florida market, and developers continue to target those two cohorts.