Over the last 30 days we’ve noticed a positive shift in the amount of leads & conversions for our vacancies, and expect that to pick up as we hit the March – September timeframe. We are still encouraging owners be aggressive on pricing while we are considering pushing for renewal increases a little more than in 2025.

We’d still recommend caution throughout at least the middle of the year and believe that rents that have fallen, will stabilize/hit a floor this year with a possible upswing into 2027 (but who really knows)?

For vacancies posted in 2026 we averaged just under 21 days, nearly 24 days faster than the national average. Owners are having to spend money to update units, in hopes to at least keep rents from falling, without a potential increase which is tough.

We’re analyzing more than ever, the absolute minimum amount of repairs we can do to offer a solid product to the market without breaking the bank.

Interest Rates

The next upcoming FED meeting is March 18th with a 98% chance of a “No Change” in rates, but lets see. As usual we recommend analyzing deals and buying them based on performance rather than waiting for rates to move, for those with higher rates a big enough reduction in 2026 would be welcomed for us to refinance into a lower rate.

The Buyers Market Continues…

In Hillsborough County the housing values are down 4.2% over the last year and taking around 50 days to go pending. The average home value is $370,809.

In Pinellas County the housing values are down 7.3% over the last year and taking around 52 days to go pending. The average home value is $358,122.

Add on the average time to close, and you’re paying another 1 to 1.5x mortgage payments before closing.

Short Term Rental Market Still Wobbly

A few years ago we managed a really nice duplex in Tampa Heights before the ownership changed, and the new buyer went Airbnb. Fast forward about 2 years, they just called us to convert it back to long term, with or without furnishings.

This has been more common over the last 18 months as insurance costs for STRs has increased (this owner was paying $7k/yr and now down to $3k/yr for a change in policy) with the most competition 3 bedrooms and under compressing nightly rates. We will offer it furnishes for slightly more but there is not a big premium (maybe $100-200/mo.) for furnishings, sometimes there is $0 premium.

If you have STRs you may at least run a scenario of long term rents and see what may work better or could have been better over the T12 (trailing 12) financials.

If you missed it originally check out our chat with our good friends at Teal Door Hosting who manages 50+ STRs in the Tampa Bay market for their input. We have it on our YT or Podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10EpUcF5gE&t=2s