Current Gainesville, Florida Rental Market

[Mark D.]

Hey everyone!

Happy new year! 

I know there was a past post a few years ago on this topic, but I wanted to start an updated tread to get more information on the current market in Gainesville, FL. I understand a lot of people are flocking south, so open to hear more information from investors. A few preliminary questions I have are: 1) How is the overall economy? I understand there are some major hospitals and government jobs down there, but how has the economy changed with the colleges and COVID, etc...?; 2) I noticed crime is decreasing somewhat in the area. Is crime a major issue?; 3) I understand the county has a high property tax rate. Are homes being reassessed frequently? Or does this depend on the municipality?

Any other information would be greatly appreciated. I'm interested in the sub 200K market.

Thank you very much!

Mark

[Shawn K Hicks]

1. On the surface the economy is pretty stable. Gainesville is known for medical and also the U of F. Residential housing and new construction continued to have a hard time keeping up with demand. This is mainly fueled by record low interest rates. *What I'm not sure of is the long term prognosis of the student market. This past year sales were down for student housing due to there only being online classes. Also like Jennifer said, there was unusual vacancies for student housing due to students not being in town. I've noticed so far, parents are buying for students again. It looks like demand is picking up for 1 and 2 bedroom units. Sales of 3 and 4 bedroom units have continued to remain a bit stagnant with student housing but may pick up as prices have dropped a bit.

2. As to crime, I'm pretty sure there are sites online you can visit to check the stats. The short answer, there is always trouble to be found if you look for it. There's not anything going on however that is significantly affecting the investment aspect of the housing market.

3. If you visit the Alachua County Property Appraiser site, you'll find that the assessed values they have are often less than what the true market values are. To add to Jennifers feedback about the University of FL and the city of Gainesville passing on the tax responsibilities with higher rates to home owners: of note, decades ago this was necessary due to there being significantly less of a tax base. It's interesting however that even after all of the decades of residential growth and a significantly larger tax base, the tax rates have not gone down.