Rents increase to $1,060 for one-bedroom pad

Apartment rents are rising faster in Orlando than the national average and a one-bedroom pad in the City Beautiful now costs $1,060 a month, according to the February report from ApartmentList’s Rentonomics.

Rents on apartments are up 3.1 percent year over year in Orlando, with costs rising in every major city in the area, as well, the report said.

The prices for apartments in some suburbs are rising even faster as population growth continues to make it tough on renters in Central Florida.

Rental rates in Lake Mary lead the area, with a one-bedroom costing an average of $1,350 a month and two-bedroom apartments averaging $1,610. That’s a 1.7-percent increase for a onebedroom from last year.

In the region, rents have grown fastest in Maitland, with rates jumping 6.8 percent after a handful of new apartment buildings opened over the past year.

The median two-bedroom apartment in Orlando hit $1,270, which is about $100 higher than the national average.

The cheapest cities are Sanford and Apopka, where one-bedroom apartments are $960 a month.

The trend has been seen elsewhere in Florida, as well, with average increases across the state at 1.5 percent. The increase was at 2.4 percent in Jacksonville and 1 percent in Miami.

But that doesn’t match price increases seen in Orlando.

The population in the Orlando metropolitan area soared past 2.7 million in 2017 as the area’s unemployment rate was the lowest in a decade.

That was an increase of nearly 500,000 people since 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Renters are seeing similar increases to what homebuyers are experiencing, where prices were up 5.7 percent in 2018, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

And a December report from Zillow showed that home and apartment rents were growing faster in Orlando than any other big city.

But that growth has squeezed renters as the region struggles to build enough multi-family housing.

Because of increases in rent and the area’s low wages, a report from LendingTree’s Magnify Money said Orlando was one of the best area’s to get a roommate.

Orlando’s Stephanie Saylor said rent is so high on her onebedroom apartment near Valencia College that she is moving in with her girlfriend. She said she was getting a great deal at $775 a

month at her old place, but she’ll save more than $200 a month by sharing.

“The only reason I can afford $1,085 a month is because we will be splitting rent,” said Saylor, 27. “There’s no way I can afford that on my own.”

Saylor, who works as a receptionist at a barber shop and is going to school to cut hair herself, said she has wanted to live closer downtown Orlando, but couldn’t afford it by herself.

“I think $1,085 for a small one-bedroom, one-bath is crazy,” Saylor said. “But that’s life now.”

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