Sarasota rental market report: rents and seasonal demand
Sarasota rent trends for owners: Zillow's September 2026 metro rent index, our current annual and seasonal listings, and the high and low season calendar.
Rents across the Sarasota area have been close to flat for the past year. Zillow’s rent index for the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota metro was $2,106 in September 2026, about the same as a year earlier and a little below September 2024. For owners, that means pricing from what homes like yours are leasing for now, not last year’s number, and timing a seasonal rental around the January to April high season.
Here’s what the metro data shows, what our own current listings look like, and how the rental year works for owners in Sarasota and Manatee.
What are Sarasota rents doing?
The Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI) tracks typical asking rents on listed rentals. Zillow reports it for the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota metro area, which covers Sarasota and Manatee counties. These are metro-wide figures for long-term rentals. They don’t measure furnished seasonal rents.
| Sept 2026 | Sept 2025 | Sept 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All rentals | $2,106 | $2,105 | $2,147 |
| Single-family homes | $2,536 | $2,509 | $2,501 |
| Apartments (multifamily) | $1,866 | $1,887 | $1,975 |
Source: Zillow Observed Rent Index (smoothed), North Port, FL metro, monthly data for September 2024, 2025 and 2026. Metro-wide asking rents, rounded to the dollar. Not a rent estimate for any one home.
Overall rent was flat over the past year. Single-family homes edged up, about 1% from September 2025. Apartments edged down by about the same amount, and were more than 5% below September 2024.
That split matters if you own a house versus a condo. A single-family rental is competing in a part of the market that has held up. A condo or apartment-style unit often competes with apartments, where asking rents have softened, so price, condition and the association’s leasing rules count for more.
What are our own rentals listed at?
Metro numbers are a backdrop. Here’s what we had listed when this was written, from our rentals page. Listings change quickly, so check the page for what’s available now.
| Home | Type | Listed rent |
|---|---|---|
| 2304 Ringling Blvd #116, Sarasota | Annual | $1,550/mo |
| 13604 Messina Loop, Bradenton | Annual | $2,750/mo |
| 3210 Bayou Sound, Longboat Key | Seasonal | High season $9,870/mo, low season $7,000/mo, 3-month minimum |
| 5151 St Albans Ave, Siesta Key | Seasonal, furnished | Call for rent |
| 101 Woodland Pl, Osprey | Seasonal, for the 2027 season | Call for rent |
Listed rents as of October 2026, not signed leases. Each home is priced from its own location, size, condition and recent leases nearby.
The spread is the point. An annual unit on Ringling Blvd and a seasonal home on Longboat Key are different markets with different renters, and one metro average can’t price either one.
How does the seasonal calendar work?
For furnished seasonal rentals, the year splits in two. High season runs January to April, when seasonal demand peaks and rents are highest. Low season runs May to December, when rents drop and some months may sit empty. Annual unfurnished leases run year round.
- Jan: High season
- Feb: High season
- Mar: High season
- Apr: High season
- May: Low season
- Jun: Low season
- Jul: Low season
- Aug: Low season
- Sep: Low season
- Oct: Low season
- Nov: Low season
- Dec: Low season
Our read of furnished seasonal demand in Sarasota and Manatee. Individual homes and islands can differ, so we price each one on its own.
The calendar drives two decisions. First, when to list: many seasonal renters plan next winter well ahead. A home still open in the fall can book, but there are fewer weeks left to fill and less time to adjust the price. We explain how renters search and when they book in how seasonal renters find Sarasota rentals. Second, how to price: high season and low season need separate rents, as the Longboat Key example below shows.
Seasonal or annual: which pays better right now?
There’s no single answer. A seasonal rental can bring in much more per month in winter, but it needs furniture, more turnover work and a plan for the low season months. An annual rental gives one steady rent with fewer turnovers. Your association’s rules may decide it for you, since many set minimum lease terms or a limit on leases per year.
Two rules apply to every seasonal home we manage. Rentals of six months or less carry Florida sales tax and the county tourist development tax, and Wagner Realty collects and files both for our owners. And our minimum stay is 30 days. We compare the two paths in detail in seasonal or annual for a Sarasota condo, and look at the island market in Siesta Key rentals.
What should owners do in a flat rent market?
When rents aren’t rising, pricing mistakes cost more. A few things we focus on:
- Price from recent leases, not last year’s rent. If similar homes nearby leased for less than you got last time, a higher asking rent usually means more empty weeks.
- Count the cost of a vacant month. On an annual lease, each month the home sits empty is about one twelfth of the year’s rent, which can wipe out a small increase.
- Weigh renewals carefully. Keeping a good tenant at a steady rent often beats a turnover with cleaning, repairs and a gap.
- Fix what renters notice. Clean paint, working AC and an updated kitchen help a home lease faster when renters have choices.
- Check the association rules first. Minimum terms and approval steps can change what you can charge and when.
What are we seeing on our own rentals this season?
[NEEDS RICHARD: a real read from your 70+ managed homes (no names): how fast annual homes are leasing this fall, how seasonal bookings for the 2027 high season compare with last year, and any rent changes you’ve made]
What’s the next step?
Find out what your home would rent for. Request a free rental analysis and tell us whether you’re thinking annual, seasonal or not sure. If seasonal is on your mind, see how we run those homes on our seasonal management page, or read about annual management.
