Apartment Hunting in Manatee County?

Good luck.

Finding an apartment in one of the rental communities in Manatee County is becoming an increasingly difficult task, the Bradenton Herald reports.

The occupancy of developments with 50 or more units was 97.38 percent during the third quarter of 2006, recent research shows.

“The whole Florida rental market is doing better than ever,” said Michael Slater, president of Triad Research & Consulting.

Since the first quarter of 1998, Manatee County’s occupancy rate hasn’t fallen below 95 percent. Triad Research & Consulting tracks the number of rental communities with 50 or more units in Manatee County. As of the third quarter, there were 54 developments that met that criteria.

There are 10,981 rental units available in those 54 developments, an increase of almost 2,000 units since 2000. In those six years, Manatee County has grown considerably, along with the rest of the Florida population. An estimated 10,805 people moved to Manatee County in that time period.

From just mid-2004 to mid-2005, the population of Manatee County grew by almost one person per rental unit, according the U.S. Census Bureau.

Several other contributing factors have led to the increases in rentals.

While at first, skyrocketing price tags on homes priced many first-time buyers out of the market, condo conversions also took a chunk out of the number of units available for rent.

The slowdown in residential construction is also a factor. While Florida mortgage costs remain modest, the area’s home prices have shot up so far that the demand for home purchases has waned considerably this year. In turn, many builders are content to sit tight.

As demand for rentals throughout the Sunshine State remains solid, 2006 has shown the demand for buying homes doesn’t have the same stability. Now, investors who got stuck with homes they can’t sell have turned to renting them out in order to make the Florida home mortgage loan payments.

“We’re flooded with homes that have been taken out of the sales pool,” said Sharone Martinelli of Wagner Realty.

Much like those who listed their homes as the Southwest Florida housing market settled, some people who have turned to leasing their properties instead set unrealistic expectations in 2006.

• Historically, investors have been able to get about 1 percent of the home’s value as a monthly rent. Now home owners are lucky to get a half percent.
• For instance, a $300,000 property that might have fetched $3,000 a month in rent is now lucky to get $1,500 a month.
• Of course, owners are better off taking $1,500 a month this year in a tepid rental market than not seeing any income from the property at all.

However, some homeowners’ expectations are what is holding people back from renting them. A young couple could buy something for $2,000 a month, and although it might not be the same size as what they could rent for the same price, they would be building home equity and investing in their future.

That didn’t stop the number of rentals from soaring as many waited for prices to fall to levels within their price range. When residential properties start moving at a more normal pace, rent will escalate as well, experts believe.

That, coupled with the fact that Florida home loans will also climb when sales start to pick back up, will hopefully be enough catalysts to bring new buyers to the table. The early arrival of cold weather in the North has brought some of the seasonal visitors back a little early. While some purchased second homes during the boom, many are content to rent.