Key Takeaways:
- It appears that Orlando rents are finding a floor. They’re below their recent highs, but the pace of decline has slowed considerably and multiple indicators point toward stabilization.
- Slower construction could take pressure off existing rentals.
- Owners should stay realistic rather than betting on another boom.
For the past couple of years, one question has come up again and again with the owners we work with: “Are rents going to keep falling?”
From what we’re seeing through our Orlando property management work, the answer is a bit different now than it has been over the past few years. Rents have stabilized rather than continuing to slide. We’re not back to the growth we saw in 2021 and 2022, but the multi-year correction appears to be bottoming out.
Colliers reported that Orlando asking rents were still down 2.4% year over year in Q1 2026, but also noted signs that pricing had begun to stabilize.
While we’re still pricing rentals carefully, we’re also no longer assuming the next comparable property will automatically come in lower. That’s one of the biggest changes in the Orlando rental market in 2026, especially for owners trying to decide what to do with a lease renewal or upcoming vacancy.
The 2026 Orlando Rental Market at a Glance
Before we get deeper into the numbers, here is where the Orlando rental market in 2026 stands right now.
| What We’re Watching | Where Orlando Stands | What It Means for Owners |
| Rents | RentCafe puts average Orlando apartment rent at $1,812, down about 2% from $1,850 a year ago. For context, Yardi Matrix reported an average of $1,851 in October 2022, near the end of the pandemic-era run-up. | Rents are still below recent highs, but the decline is getting much smaller. |
| Vacancy | Colliers reported 94.3% multifamily occupancy in Q1 2026, which works out to roughly 5.7% vacancy in its dataset. Northmarq also reported that vacancy edged lower during the quarter. | There’s still competition, but conditions are starting to move in a better direction for owners. |
| New Construction | MMG counted 9,473 units under construction in Q1 2026. Northmarq expects about 9,100 units to be delivered in 2026, while new permitting is running at less than half the five-year Q1 average. | Orlando still has new supply to absorb, but with fewer projects coming behind it, the pressure should gradually decrease. |
| Demand | The Orlando region reached about 2.96 million residents in 2025, adding 37,690 people in one year. Local employment is also projected to grow 1.3% in 2026, compared with 0.8% statewide and 0.5% nationally. | More people and continued job growth give the rental market a solid base of demand. |
There are different rent and vacancy numbers depending on the source. Some look at large apartment communities, while others include single-family rentals or use different geographic areas. Some also report averages and others report medians.
We don’t get too hung up on making sure all the numbers match. It’s more important to us that we understand which way the market is moving.
Rents Are No Longer Sliding the Way They Were
For the last couple of years, Orlando rental owners have had to adjust their pricing to a market that cooled off from its pandemic-era highs. In 2024 and 2025, owners who tried to hold onto older rent levels sometimes found themselves competing against newer listings that were already priced lower.
That’s changing a bit in 2026.
RentCafe puts the average Orlando apartment rent at about $1,812 as of July, down 2.36% from a year earlier. Colliers reported a similar 2.4% year-over-year decline in Q1, but importantly, its analysts also found that pricing appeared to have bottomed out and was beginning to stabilize.
From our standpoint, the signs of stabilization are more important than the year-over-year decline.
The latest Orlando rent trends suggest the market is starting to level out. As an owner, current comparable rents may hold steadier than they did in 2024 or 2025, though you still need to make sure your pricing is realistic.
Maybe your home previously rented for $2,300, but the current comparable rentals support $2,200. You can certainly hold out for that extra $100, but if your home sits empty for more than a month, it might not be worth it.
At $2,200 per month:
- One extra month of vacancy costs about $2,200.
- An extra $100 in monthly rent adds only $1,200 over a full year.
Vacancy is Improving in Orlando, but It Still Isn’t a Landlord’s Market
Vacancy is heading in the right direction. But not every report is the same.
Our research puts metro-wide vacancy around 9.5% to 10% in Q1 2026, down from roughly 11% in late 2024. Colliers, which focuses specifically on multifamily properties, reported 94.3% occupancy in Q1, or about 5.7% vacancy.
Those numbers might seem a bit contradictory, but it’s important to remember that they’re measuring different parts of the market.
As an Orlando property management company, we use those metro numbers to understand the overall direction of the market. When it comes time to price an individual rental, though, the nearby competition is far more important.
Let’s say you own a well-maintained three-bedroom home in Winter Garden. If there’s a report that shows higher apartment vacancy rates across Orlando, it wouldn’t make sense to lower the rent based on that alone. You also have to look at comparable three-bedroom homes in that submarket, how quickly they’re leasing, and what people are paying.
The Biggest Positive Signal May Be New Construction
One of the biggest reasons Orlando rents fell over the last few years was that a lot of new apartments hit the market at once.
Renters had more choices. New communities also had more room to offer move-in specials and other concessions while they filled units, which made it harder for existing rentals to compete.
Northmarq specifically points to this wave of supply and lease-up concessions as a major source of pressure on Orlando rents since 2023.
Finally, that pressure is starting to ease up.
Northmarq expects about 9,100 new units to be delivered in 2026, which is well below 2025 levels. Permitting activity is also down.
As fewer projects enter the pipeline, the Orlando rental market will have more time to absorb the apartments that have already been built. Over time, that should reduce some of the competition existing landlords have been dealing with.
Is the Renter Pool Still Doing Any Heavy Lifting?
Supply and demand. We need both. And for the Orlando rental property market to keep finding its footing, we need enough people looking for places to live.
Luckily, demand is looking healthy.
The Orlando Economic Partnership reports that the metro’s population grew 1.3% in 2025, faster than Florida overall. It also projects local employment to grow another 1.3% in 2026, compared with 0.8% statewide and 0.5% nationally.
Orlando is also a renter-heavy city. Roughly 60% of households rent rather than own. That means local landlords have a fairly deep pool of potential tenants.
With continued population and job growth, the market has a better chance to absorb the supply that came online over the last few years.
Of course, there’s still a limit to what renters can afford. Just because the population is growing doesn’t mean owners can push rents as high as they want.
The goal in 2026 is to price a rental in such a way that qualified tenants will respond.
What We Would Do If We Owned an Orlando Rental Right Now
If we owned an Orlando rental today, we’d be encouraged by what we’re seeing with the market.
Even so, when pricing a property, we’d look closely at current neighborhood comps and how quickly similar homes are leasing. It isn’t a smart idea to price around what the home earned at the peak of the market and assume renters will eventually catch up.
The same goes for renewals.
If we have a good tenant in place, we look at the value of keeping that tenant against the cost and uncertainty of a turnover.
Here’s how we’d approach a few decisions in the 2026 Orlando rental market:
| If we were… | We would… |
| Setting rent on a vacant home | Use current neighborhood comps |
| Renewing a good tenant | Weigh the increase against the possible cost of turnover |
| Dealing with a slow-moving listing | Check the price and nearby competition again before blaming the market |
| Buying another rental | Run the numbers using the most recent data instead of counting on aggressive future increases |
| Holding an existing rental | View stabilization as a positive sign but keep our expectations realistic |
Even though what we’re seeing now is good, we wouldn’t build an investment plan around another sudden rent boom.
It’s the same approach we take when we advise owners who are growing their Orlando rental portfolio. The best decisions usually come back to the individual property, its expenses, and the competition around it.
If you’re not sure where your property fits into the current market, our team can provide a free Orlando rental property analysis for you.
Better Orlando Rental Market But Not Booming
So, what’s our overall read on the Orlando rental market in 2026?
Conditions are improving. Steadily improving, but improving nonetheless.
Rents are down year-over-year. Vacancy is moving in the right direction. There are fewer new projects in the pipeline, and Orlando is still adding people and jobs.
If the market continues to move toward normalization, we could have a healthier market than we did a few years ago. In that case, we’d expect owners to have an easier time holding rents heading into 2027.. We wouldn’t underwrite a major rent spike, but we also wouldn’t assume there’d be another year of broad rent declines.
If you want to see how these trends apply to your specific property, get a Free Orlando Rental Analysis from our expert Orlando property management team.
Published by The Listing Real Estate Management | Your Boutique Orlando Property Managers | 300 S Orange Ave Suite 1000, Orlando, FL 32801 | (407) 792-5900
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FAQs
Is 2026 a good time to buy an Orlando rental property?
It can be if the numbers work with current rental data. We would underwrite the deal conservatively and account for insurance, taxes, maintenance, financing and vacancy before buying.
Should I raise the rent when my Orlando tenant renews in 2026?
Maybe, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should apply an automatic percentage increase. Look at current neighborhood comps and what a turnover could cost. If the home is already close to market rent and you have a reliable tenant, there’s no reason to muddy the waters with a big rent spike.
Will Orlando rental rates go back to their 2021 and 2022 rates?
We wouldn’t plan around it. Current data is pointing toward stabilization and more normal rent growth rather than another pandemic-era surge.
