JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – What looks like a typical neighborhood in Jacksonville, with rows of new single-family homes that have driveways and manicured lawns, might not be for sale at all.
From 2022 to 2024, more than 1 out of every 10 single-family homes built in Duval County was constructed specifically to rent, according to a News4JAX analysis of county property records.
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Since 2019, the number of build-to-rent, or BTR, homes in the area has grown by roughly 600%, according to data from Point2Homes.
By mapping tax records and city building data, News4JAX found more than 3,000 single-family homes across Duval County that were developed exclusively as rental properties, often clustered in newly built neighborhoods owned by large investors.
What is build-to-rent?
Kyle Passkiewicz, owner of Yellowbird Realty, a local real estate investment company, said the concept marks a major shift from how single-family homes were owned in the past.
“Before the Great Financial Crisis, there was no really institutional ownership at all,” Passkiewicz said. “Over the last 15 years, these institutions… have kind of figured out we can manage properties in bulk and manage them all over the country, single-family, whether it’s scattered site or neighborhoods like we see here.”
He said demand for housing, combined with higher mortgage rates, property taxes and insurance costs, has made renting a single-family home more appealing and, in many cases, more affordable than buying.
“In a neighborhood like the one we’re walking in, if they want to go out and purchase one of these houses, their overall cost of ownership … is probably going to be significantly higher than their rent costs today,” Passkiewicz said.
Are they helping or hurting affordability?
The rise of BTR communities has sparked debate over affordability and access to homeownership.
Ken Johnson, chair of real estate and professor of finance at the University of Mississippi, said many people assume build-to-rent homes make affordability worse, but he argues the opposite can be true.
“I think most people think of BTRs as a negative in terms of affordability, but in fact they’re the opposite,” Johnson said. “They help relieve demand for the more traditional rental unit.”
When News4JAX compared rental rates, in many areas of Jacksonville BTR homes rented for less per square foot than nearby apartments.
Johnson described the trend as “the American dream reimagined.”
“I think what it’s indicating is that more and more what we think of as the American dream of homeownership isn’t exactly what we always see,” he said. “It’s not the only path or necessarily even the best path to wealth creation.”
Johnson said if families rent for a decade and consistently invest the money they would have spent on a down payment and higher monthly housing costs, they could potentially build as much wealth as homeowners who rely on equity gains.
“As long as they are making that reinvestment,” he said. “If they fail to do that and spend this money on beer and cookies, then it’s wealth-destroying.”
Fewer homes to buy
Still, even supporters acknowledge trade-offs.
Passkiewicz said build-to-rent neighborhoods do limit the number of homes available for purchase.
“They definitely take away the opportunity for people to buy homes,” he said. “A lot of that just has to do with economics and the time cycles we’re in with interest rates and full overall cost.”
Whether the long-term effects will be positive remains uncertain, he added.
“It is reshaping where we live and who owns America.”
As Jacksonville continues to grow, the question remains whether build-to-rent communities are a temporary response to high interest rates and home costs or a permanent shift in how the next generation is building wealth.
Explore the map below to find out if there’s a built-to-rent community near you.