Selling an apartment building in Jacksonville (Duval County)

If you own an apartment building in Jacksonville and you are thinking about selling, you want three things from me: what buildings like yours have actually sold for, what a buyer is going to underwrite, and how the sale itself works. Here are all three, with the sources, for Duval County. Jacksonville and Duval County share one consolidated government, so the county numbers below are the clearest read on the Jacksonville market.

What Jacksonville apartment buildings sell for

I track every recorded arm's-length sale of a Florida apartment parcel with five or more units. In Duval County, the median sale price per unit in 2025 was $106,157 on 70 sales. That is the highest yearly median in the county's record. A few years for context:

• 2005: $45,000 a unit on 71 sales
• 2015: $69,854 a unit on 24 sales
• 2019: $65,253 a unit on 83 sales
• 2021: $87,273 a unit on 152 sales
• 2022: $97,458 a unit on 97 sales
• 2025: $106,157 a unit on 70 sales

Three things stand out. First, the Duval median more than doubled from $45,000 a unit in 2005, and it is up 52% in the decade since 2015. Second, 2021 was the busiest year on record with 152 sales; volume has since settled back to 70, which is close to the pre-COVID pace of 83 in 2019. Third, Duval did not give back its gains after 2022 the way some Florida counties did. The 2025 median is 9% above 2022.

Jacksonville is also still cheaper than Florida as a whole. The statewide median in 2025 was $157,143 a unit, so the typical Duval building traded about 32% below it. For the statewide picture, see 30 years of Florida apartment prices per unit.

One caution I give every owner: a median mixes whatever sold that year. A year heavy with older small buildings pulls it down, and a few newer ones pull it up. It is a price level, not an appraisal of your building. The full year-by-year Duval table, every year since 1995 with sale counts, is in the county report I send by email. You can request the Duval County report here, or start with the Duval County market page.

Jacksonville rents since COVID

On the Zillow Observed Rent Index, Duval County rent was $1,163 a month in February 2020 and $1,616 in August 2026, up 39%. August 2026 is the highest month on record, so Jacksonville rents are at their peak, not below it. Over the last twelve months they rose 2.0%. That is slow, but it is up, which is more than several Gulf Coast counties can say. Zillow's index covers houses as well as apartments, so read it as the direction of the market, not the rent for your unit. Every county is compared in Florida rents since COVID, county by county.

The yearly averages tell the same story: $1,138 a month in 2019, $1,531 in 2022, $1,577 in 2025. Almost all of the increase came in 2021 and 2022. Since then Jacksonville rents have been close to flat.

HUD rents in Jacksonville now beat the market average

HUD's fiscal year 2027 Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom in Duval County is $1,694, up 52% from $1,113 in FY2021. That is $78 above the August 2026 Zillow all-homes average for the county. If you own an older building with two-bedroom units and voucher tenants, your Housing Choice Voucher rents may now be some of the strongest in the building, as long as you have asked the housing authority for the increase at renewal. The full county list is in HUD Fair Market Rents in Florida for 2027.

Price to rent: Why the math still works here

Divide the median price per unit by a year of average county rent and you get a rough gross multiple. In Duval it was about 4.8 times annual rent in 2019 and about 5.6 times in 2025. Statewide, the same measure was 6.64 in 2025. In plain terms, a Jacksonville buyer still pays less for each dollar of rent than the statewide average. That is a big part of why buyers keep coming here, and it is also why your building's value rests so heavily on its expenses. When the multiple is lower, there is less room for a bad insurance quote.

What Jacksonville buyers underwrite

Buyers and their lenders do not pay for the building you have been running. They pay for the building they will own, at their costs. In Duval County that means:

• Insurance at today's quote. I underwrite Florida apartment insurance at about $950 a door inland and $1,350 and up near the coast, against about $400 when I started in 2013. A building near the water or with an old roof lands at the high end. More in what Florida apartment insurance costs now.
• Taxes reset at the sale. Your tax bill reflects years of Florida's 10% annual cap on non-homestead assessments. When the building sells, the county reassesses it toward the sale price. I estimate the new bill at about 80% of the price times Duval's millage, and any good buyer runs the same math. If you have owned for a long time, the gap can be large. See property tax reassessment after a sale.
• Maintenance and management at market. I use about $700 a unit for maintenance and 7% for third-party management, whether or not you manage it yourself, because the buyer's lender will.
• Debt at today's rates. The 10-year Treasury was about 5.2% in early October 2026, and the Federal Reserve raised its target range in September. Commercial lenders size the loan off your net income at those rates, so a higher rate means a smaller loan and a buyer who can pay less.

Put a market cap rate on what is left, and that is your price. Small Florida buildings like the ones I sell generally trade somewhere around a 7% to 8.5% cap. My full method is in how much is my apartment building worth.

How a Duval County sale works

The process is the same in Jacksonville as anywhere else in Florida: price it from the income, build the document package before the first buyer call (rent roll, trailing twelve months, leases, tax bill, insurance policy), put it in front of the buyers who actually close, vet those buyers harder than their offers, and remove surprises before due diligence. A financed deal usually runs 60 to 90 days from contract to closing. I walk through every step in how to sell an apartment building in Florida.

Two things to settle before you sign anything. Talk to your CPA about what you keep, because a building owned for decades can carry a large federal capital gains and depreciation recapture bill; my notes are in capital gains tax on a Florida apartment sale. And decide whether a straight sale, a 1031 exchange or seller financing fits you.

Looking for an apartment broker in Jacksonville?

I am a licensed Florida broker, and I have sold apartment buildings since 2013, first at Marcus & Millichap and on my own since 2018. I work Duval County along with every other Florida county except Volusia and Brevard. My listing terms are simple: a one-page agreement, 90 days, and a 4% commission paid only at closing. I price every building the way a buyer's bank will, so the number holds through due diligence.

Your building is not the average. Your Apartment Tracker shows the recorded sales and rents around your own building, next to your number. See my number.

Questions owners ask

What do apartment buildings sell for in Jacksonville?

In 2025, the median recorded sale price for an apartment building in Duval County was $106,157 per unit, across 70 arm's-length sales of buildings with five or more units. That compares with $65,253 in 2019 and $97,458 in 2022. Your building's price depends on its own income and expenses, not the median.

Are Jacksonville apartment prices going down?

Not on the sale record. The Duval County median per unit rose from $97,458 in 2022 to $106,157 in 2025, about 9% higher. Sales volume fell from its 2021 peak of 152 to 70 in 2025, so fewer buildings trade, but the median price has not gone lower.

How much have rents gone up in Jacksonville since COVID?

On the Zillow Observed Rent Index, Duval County rent went from $1,163 a month in February 2020 to $1,616 in August 2026, up 39%. Almost all of that came in 2021 and 2022. Over the 12 months to August 2026, rents rose 2.0%.

What is the HUD fair market rent for a 2-bedroom in Jacksonville?

For HUD's fiscal year 2027, which began October 1, 2026, the two-bedroom Fair Market Rent for Duval County is $1,694 a month, up 52% from $1,113 in FY2021. The same figure applies to Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties.

How long does it take to sell an apartment building in Jacksonville?

Budget two to four months once an honestly priced building is on the market: a few weeks to draw offers, then 60 to 90 days from contract to closing on a financed deal, faster with cash. Add time up front if your books need cleanup.

I price Jacksonville buildings the way a buyer's lender will, which is the whole job of an apartment building broker in Florida. Call me at 321-275-KING and I will tell you what a Duval County buyer will believe about your numbers.