Migration into Jacksonville is not a new trend. However the start of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly sped it up. People all over the United States are moving at a clip not registered in the country’s modern history. People are choosing to make moves for quality of life improvements. Jacksonville’s strong economy, coupled with easy access to several beaches, and most amenities of a normal big city, are major reasons why the city is poised for continued growth, on top of what we’ve already seen.
The commercial real estate sector is taking notice of these migration trends, and starting to place more emphasis on investing in areas where growth has dominated during the pandemic. Sun Belt cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, Dallas and Atlanta recorded record migration of over 35,000 residents each during the pandemic. Numbers like these have boosted apartment performances, and the amount of investors looking to take advantage of the booming rental markets. In Jacksonville, annual rent growth year over year has is just over 12 percent. It represents one of the largest rental growths in the country.
With the buyer pool increasing, competition is also on the rise. In Jacksonville, and other booming markets, the average price per units of apartment complexes have grown over 12 percent annually.
What’s most responsible for the rental growth in Jacksonville? Of course, Jacksonville like the rest of the nation faces a housing shortage. It’s even harder in markets like Jacksonville, where housing demand has struggled since the Great Recession to keep up with population growth and demand. But that’s not the only thing responsible for the rise in rental competition in Jacksonville. Believe it or not, the comeback of the office downtown is one huge factor.
Offices have been the black sheep of the commercial real estate sector since last March, when things started to shut down. And it’s true that many workers who have left the office won’t be returning. But Jacksonville has seen several bright spots in the return of office life. The recent plan of relocation for Nymbus HQ to downtown Jacksonville is just one example of the comeback of office space in the market. And, with younger people moving in to occupy those offices, increased demand for downtown apartments for them to live in.
So far in 2021, there have been over 187,000 square feet of additional office space built in Jacksonville, according to developers. Other buildings expected to be completed within the next year amount to an additional 182,000 square feet of office space. Experts point to the number of businesses (like Nymbus) relocating to Jacksonville, as well as the need for high quality spaces at affordable rates to continue to drive the comeback of office space in the Jacksonville metro. Jacksonville, on average, is also a more affordable city for businesses to rent these spaces, compared to other larger cities in Florida. It’s one of the reasons why Nymbus, currently Miami-based, is making the in-state move north.
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