Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With 145,214 people, 55,193 houses or apartments, and a median cost of homes of $321,316, Gainesville real estate prices are well above average cost compared to national prices.
Large apartment complexes or high rise apartments are the single most common housing type in Gainesville, accounting for 43.41% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Gainesville include single-family detached homes ( 37.53%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 12.54%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 4.59%). Cities that are predominantly high-density buildings are relatively uncommon in the US. Because of the density, these types of cities are often walkable and compact, and often have a lively downtown.
Gainesville is dominated by renter-occupied one, two, or no bedrooms apartments. 66.11% of Gainesville's dwellings are rentals.
There is a lot of housing in Gainesville built from 1970 to 1999 so parts of town may have that "Brady Bunch" look of homes popular in the '70s and early '80s, although some of these houses were built up through the early '90s as well. There is also a lot of housing in Gainesville built between 1940-1969 ( 21.50%). A lesser amount of the housing stock also hails from between 2000 and later ( 19.52%). There's also some housing in Gainesville built before 1939 ( 2.75%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Gainesville. Fully 13.67% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Gainesville homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Gainesville real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
In the last 10 years, Gainesville has experienced some of the highest home appreciation rates of any community in the nation. Gainesville real estate appreciated 132.93% over the last ten years, which is an average annual home appreciation rate of 8.82%, putting Gainesville in the top 20% nationally for real estate appreciation. If you are a home buyer or real estate investor, Gainesville definitely has a track record of being one of the best long term real estate investments in America through the last ten years.
Appreciation rates are so strong in Gainesville that despite a nationwide downturn in the housing market, Gainesville real estate has continued to appreciate in value faster than most communities. Looking at just the latest twelve months, Gainesville appreciation rates continue to be some of the highest in America, at 10.40%, which is higher than appreciation rates in 89.07% of the cities and towns in the nation. Based on the last twelve months, short-term real estate investors have found good fortune in Gainesville. Gainesville appreciation rates in the latest quarter were at 5.35%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of 23.17%.
Importantly, NeighborhoodScout’s exclusive research found that Gainesville's housing market shows one of the <a href="/blog/highest-appreciating-cities">top real estate appreciation rates in the U.S.A.</a> in the latest quarter, which may signal the city’s near-future real estate investment strength.
Relative to Florida, our data show that Gainesville's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 70% of the other cities and towns in Florida.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Gainesville differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Gainesville - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Gainesville real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
$321,316
for Florida
for nation
55,193
$1,827 / per month