If you’re looking for sun, surf, and a hot real estate market, look no further than our market of the month, Tampa, Florida. Even with the challenges of 2020, the real estate market in Tampa has thrived, and it’s expected to do even better in 2021.
Tampa is the third largest city in Florida, and the 48th most populous in the country. Located on the Gulf of Mexico, Tampa is attracting new residents in droves thanks to its job opportunities, year-round warm weather, revitalization of its urban core, and no state income tax. The centerpiece of this development is Water Street, a $3 billion mixed-use development project that has transformed the Downtown Waterfront into a vibrant place to live, work, and play.
Tampa’s popularity is being fueled by its diversity of job opportunities in finance, technology, tourism, and construction. It is also home to the Port of Tampa, which is the largest in Florida. The influx of new employers has helped spur Tampa’s revitalization. Tampa leads the state in high-wage STEM jobs and is an emerging destination for IT companies, especially in cybersecurity and data science. That influx is helping to foster a budding community of tech entrepreneurs. In addition, the tourism sector is expected to regain its momentum later this year, when Tampa can once again safely host visitors to enjoy its beaches and other attractions.
Tampa is home to approximately 400,000 people and about 150,000 of those people moved to Tampa in the past ten years. The area’s surge in popularity is reflected in the real estate market. Home values in Tampa increased by 10.4% last year and are expected to rise by 8.5% over the next 12 months. In 2020, the average home in Tampa only stayed on the market for 56 days, and the sale-to-list price ratio was 99.3%, meaning that most of the homes sold for asking price.
The market is heating up so rapidly that a lot of would-be homeowners are renting while they wait to buy, so real estate investors seeking rental properties will be able to tap into a large population of renters. About 44% of Tampa residents are renters, and rent in Tampa increased 2% last year. About 70% of the rental units in Tampa have monthly rents of $1,001 or higher and the average rent in Tampa is $1,373 per month, as of October 2020.
For real estate investors, Tampa is hard to beat. Its popularity is rising rapidly, with no signs of slowing down. If you like your cashflow with a side of sun and sand, Tampa might be the perfect place to take the plunge.
