A newly released study underscores the competitiveness — and perhaps the frustration — faced by renters across South Florida this year: It concludes the region is the hottest rental market in the country.

The study, conducted by RentCafe, is billed as a year-end report, recapping a year in which we saw somewhat plateauing rental prices, slightly lower housing interest rates, more supply and persistent demand.

“Despite a surge in new apartments throughout the last few years, Miami continues to attract professionals drawn to its booming tech and finance sectors, no-tax policies and strategic position as a gateway to Latin America,” the RentCafe report states. “Naturally, this steady influx of new residents continues to fuel demand for housing throughout the metro.”

RentCafe is an apartment search website that also collects and analyzes data about the rental market. It released a report that plucked out the 139 largest U.S. cities and gave them each a score according to five metrics to provide a Rental Competitiveness Index score for each city.

Those metrics are:

— The number of days apartments stayed vacant.

— The percentage of rentals that were occupied.

— The number of prospective renters competing for an apartment.

— The percentage of renters who renewed their leases.

— The share of new apartments completed this year.

Miami earned a Rental Competitiveness Index score of 91.2, placing it at No. 1 of the list. That’s a result of the region having:

— 96.5% of apartments occupied.

— 18 prospective renters for a given apartment.

— A 72% lease renewal rate.

— 33 average vacant days for a rental unit.

— An about 4% increase in apartment supply.

National and local trends

The overall national RCI score was 74.4, which the RentCafe report stated “indicates that American renters experienced a highly competitive market this year.”

Other cities that closely trailed Miami were suburban Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Bridgeport-New Haven, New Jersey.

“Many renters opt to stay put to avoid the hassle that comes with increased competition, while those who are actively looking for an apartment need to act swiftly to secure an apartment that fits their needs,” the report states.

“On top of that, the combination of the high prices of buying a home, mortgage rates and cost of living often keeps would-be buyers in the rental market longer, further fueling the competition for apartments.”

What’s to come for next year

Miami’s rental market indicates signs of softening for 2025, unlike at the end of 2023.

Increased inventory — about 14,000 new apartments have entered the market this past year — is helping, as developers bring in new residential projects to grapple with the housing demand that South Florida continues to see.

Prices have become more palatable in the past few months, particularly in the rental market, said Whitney Dutton, the residential sales director for Native Realty, a South Florida real estate agency, in a 2025 outlook.

Dutton used an example of the Waverly, a residential building in Fort Lauderdale, to illustrate this trend. In February, a two-bedroom was renting for about $3,200. In early December, a two-bedroom at the Waverly was renting for about $3,000, he said.

“Between now and in January, yes, I think that prices have absolutely relaxed a little bit,” he said.

According to RentCafe’s report, next year’s rental season across the nation “is likely to be slightly less competitive than it was in 2024,” largely due to the influx of new apartments projected to open.

“This increased supply is expected to ease some of the pressure on the rental market, making it less challenging for renters to find available units. This is mostly reflected in the occupancy trends for the vacancy rate and the number of renters per vacant unit,” the report states.

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