Report shows rent prices leveling-off around Tampa Bay, but residents still struggle

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - There may be a glimmer of hope for Tampa-area renters who have been battered by some of the nation’s sharpest rent increases.

A new report Apartments.com, owned by the data firm CoStar Group, shows the growth in apartment rents is starting to cool off. 

"It’s welcome news to hear that rents may be stabilizing," said Alexis Muellner, editor-in-chief of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "But it may be a little premature to say we’re out in the clear. Tampa, in May, was third in the state in terms of rent growth increases at 17%. Bradenton was right behind it."

Still, it’s smaller than the 24% rent increases seen in parts of the Tampa Bay region in recent months. 

Meanwhile, residents like 25-year-old Janie, a food service worker who lives in St. Petersburg, says she’s still suffering from rent increases that hit her two years ago. 

"It pretty much eats my entire budget," she says. "I don’t see myself getting to go on even a weekend vacation anytime soon."