Clearwater/Largo Market Summary and more concessions

Our research team just completed another market summary, this time for the Clearwater/Largo submarket. The research was conducted by phone and information was provided via Clearwater/Largo communities on-site staff between the dates of 4/17/08 - 4/18/08. A few results have been highlighted and are below:

*Average occupancy for the area is at 92%
*Average rent rates are between $861-$912
*The most popular concession by far is one month free with a few communities offering 2 month's free rent
*Just as in St. Pete, 47% of communities in this submarket are offering concessions

The good news is that we have seen, over the past four months, a rise in occupancy in the realm of one to three percentage points on average throughout this submarket. We are hearing stories of increased rentals to former homeowners who have been foreclosed on, renters who previously had been renting from homeowners who have been foreclosed on, and many who were putting off home buying due to the inability to snag a homeowners loan. The trend is still heavily in favor of searching for homes to rent by far, but we feel that the playing field will level out over the next few months and occupancy will continue its steady, albeit slower than we would like to see, rise.
The concessions issue continues to fascinate us however. While the average occupancy in Clearwater/Largo is at 92%, those offering concessions are sitting at 91% occupancy. One percentage point differential is not large enough to make a clear case that concessions are not necessary. We also have not explored the question of what would those communities who are offering concessions look like if they were not? However, this is the third submarket we have surveyed where those complexes offering concessions have come in with an occupancy rate below the market average. We have one more survey on the way and then we'll crunch the total numbers and do a concession post on the effectiveness of concessions in the Tampa Bay area. Stay tuned!
If you should have any questions or if you would like the report in full, please e-mail aftampa@apartmentfinder.com or call us at 813-864-0275.