The 2025 Rental Market Study conducted by UF Shimberg Center for Housing Studies found that rent for multifamily units in Florida rose by 39 percent between 2019 and 2023, as 1 million households entered the state.
“Florida’s strong population growth has collided with limited housing supply, pushing rents beyond what many families can afford,” said Anne Ray, manager of the Florida Housing Data Clearinghouse at the Shimberg Center.
According to the report, an estimated 904,000 renting households earn less than 60% of the median income and pay more than 40% of their income on housing.
In Flagler County, 4,478 renting households out of 12,000 total renting households–or 37 percent–are in that category. Among the most low-income, cost-burdened renting households in the county, 72 percent are occupied by one or two people. The majority are younger than 54.
The report indicates that in Palm Coast, only 28 to 39 renting units are available per 100 renters whose income is below 60 percent of the area median income, compared to 88 to 102 units for those whose income is 100 percent or above the area median income.
By another measure, in Palm Coast, only 553 units are available in the price range for the 1,680 renter households whose income is 30 percent or below the median area income. That means 1,127 of those households are paying unaffordable rents. When including those at the 40 percent of area median income or below, the deficit grows to 1,619 households.
Flagler County has 889 subsidized rental units, according to the report.
“Florida’s not any different than most places and we saw the extreme rise in rents going back to the pandemic days and things have remained high as production pretty much came to a grinding halt for that period of time,” Florida Housing Coalition CEO Ashon Nesbitt told the Phoenix.
The state added more than 240,000 multifamily units between 2019 and 2023 while median rents rose by almost $500 per month, or 39%, from $1,238 to $1,719, the report found.
Renting households include at least one employed adult in 79% of units. In households occupied by their owners, 67% are working.
“We’re still not producing as quickly as the need is overall,” Nesbitt said, adding that there’s a “great need” for rental options for people making below 80% of the median income.
“Financially, it’s difficult to produce units at that level, and so with the lack of units affordable at that level, the overall lack of supplies, we have high rent costs, and the reduction in that supply is relating to that growth in those that are now becoming homeless,” Nesbitt said.
The study found the largest inflow of residents to the state stretched from St. Johns County to Lee County.
Homelessness on the rise
The report, using Department of Housing and Urban Development and Florida Department of Education data, estimates 29,848 individuals in Florida are homeless, 6,049 of whom are unaccompanied youth.
The report estimates that 41,847 families are doubled up with others or staying in hotels and motels.
The 2025 homelessness numbers represent a 14% increase for individuals and 28% increase for families since the 2022 report.
Nesbitt said that “down the line” there will be more supply as projects drawing on trust funds, the Live Local Act, land-use tools, and property tax exemptions are built.
“When the units that are being produced aren’t necessarily matching where the greatest need is, that’s why we have this growing gap,” Nesbit said.
As conversations ramp up about eliminating property taxes, Nesbitt said he expects people to consider how it will affect low- to-moderate-income homeowners and how it can be done equitably, based on income and other factors.
“Many of the folks that are experiencing that instability are part of our workforce. Most of the folks that this [report] calls out, these are folks that are working jobs and working many of the jobs that power our state’s economy,” Nesbitt said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that voters will be able to decide whether they want to pay property taxes or not during the 2026 election. He said his office is researching how it can be done.
“The demand for affordable housing is not new to most households in Florida. As inflation and cost of living continue to increase, the cost of housing and other necessary basic needs of individuals continue to be a financial challenge,” Florida TaxWatch CEO Dominic Calabro said in an update about the Live Local Act.
The Live Local Act was a 2023 measure that gave tax breaks to developers creating multifamily residential properties for people making around or below the median income.
TaxWatch recommended the Legislature create tax credits for building homes affordable for “middle income” families, credits to adapt historic properties, and a low-income housing tax credit for rental properties to augment federal credits.
The Florida Policy Institute advocated for restoration, too.
“It is typically cheaper to rehabilitate a unit or building than to construct one from scratch. Including rehabilitation and improvement costs in the tax exemptions would increase and maintain the supply of affordable housing, and support climate resilience, respectively,” FPI said in a report released during the last legislative session.
A bill, SB 184, that would have required local governments to create local rules allowing accessory dwelling units, or granny flats, died this session.
–Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix and FlaglerLive
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