How to Navigate Seasonal Rental Trends in Palm Beach County: A City-by-City Guide to 11 Markets for Annual-Lease Owners

Owner Guide · Seasonal Rental Trends · Palm Beach County, FL

By Jean Taveras, Broker-Owner, Atlis Property Management · Updated October 2026

Ask ten Palm Beach County landlords when the rental season is and you may get ten answers. Owners with furnished homes near the coast think of winter. Owners of family homes in the western communities think of summer and the school year. Owners of downtown condos may not notice much of a season at all. Each of them is describing their own slice of the county correctly.

This guide is for owners of annual, unfurnished rentals who want to understand how seasonal patterns play out across the whole county, and how to plan the year around them. It compares 11 cities using current listing data, then covers lease timing, renewals, pricing, association approvals, and storm season. If you rent furnished homes for the winter, see our seasonal rental management guide for Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens. If you own in Jupiter and want a month-by-month listing plan, see our guide to the best time to list a rental in Jupiter.

Two Rental Calendars, One County

The furnished seasonal market and the annual market overlap, but they behave differently.

• The furnished seasonal calendar follows the winter months, when seasonal residents come south. Leases are often a few months long, furnished, and priced for that window. Under Florida Statute §212.03, stays of 6 months or less also carry transient rental tax duties that annual leases do not.
• The annual calendar follows jobs, school years, and life events. Families often prefer to move between school years, and relocating workers move when their jobs start. Demand is steadier across the year, but it still has busier and quieter stretches.
• The storm calendar runs underneath both. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, which affects when owners schedule repairs, turnovers, and inspections.

Most annual-lease owners compete mainly in the second calendar, but they feel the first one too, because furnished listings sit on the same rental sites and pull from some of the same renters. Our comparison of short-term and long-term leases covers when furnished renting makes financial sense.

A Countywide Snapshot: Fall 2026, City by City

The table below comes from PBP Real Estate's analysis of BeachesMLS listings as of October 7, 2026. These are asking rents on active listings, not signed leases, and median listing age describes how long the median active listing had been on the market. A dash means the figure was not reported for that city.

Three things stand out. First, the furnished share varies widely, from about two-thirds of listings in Jupiter to about one in eight in Greenacres. Second, median listing age ranges from 34 days in West Palm Beach to 61 days in Jupiter. Third, the median asking rent spans from $2,000 in Lake Worth Beach to $5,500 in Wellington. A single countywide seasonal rule cannot fit all of those markets, so owners should read their own city's numbers and, better still, the listings in their own community.

For a broader look at the county's markets, see our Palm Beach County rental market report.

How Much of the Market Is Your Real Competition

If you own an unfurnished home, furnished listings are not your closest competitors. A rough way to size your direct competition is to subtract the furnished share from the total listings. Because the furnished shares are rounded, treat the results as approximate.

The practical lesson is about pricing, not volume. In a city where most listings are furnished, the overall median asking rent mixes furnished and unfurnished homes, so it can mislead an owner of an unfurnished home. PBP Real Estate reported that furnished units asked 92% more than unfurnished units of similar size in Jupiter and 76% more in Palm Beach Gardens. Price an unfurnished home against unfurnished listings of the same size, condition, and community.

Planning Lease End Dates and Renewals Around the Seasons

The month a lease ends decides the month you may need to find a new tenant. That makes the lease term one of the most useful seasonal tools an owner has. A lease does not have to run exactly 12 months; an 11-month or 13-month term can move the end date toward a more active leasing month for your city and away from major holidays.

1. Set the end date on purpose. When you sign a new lease, choose the end month as deliberately as the rent.
2. Use compliant notice terms. Under Florida Statute §83.575, a fixed-term lease may require notice before the tenant vacates, but it may not require less than 30 days' or more than 60 days' notice, and the landlord must give matching notice if the lease will not be renewed.
3. Start renewal conversations early. Reach out 60 to 90 days before the lease ends, so either a renewal or a marketing plan is in place before the notice window closes. Our guide to lease renewal strategy covers pricing the renewal.
4. Know the month-to-month rule. If a tenancy becomes month-to-month, either party may end it with at least 30 days' written notice before the end of a monthly period under §83.57(3).

A renewal avoids the seasonal question entirely, because no vacancy means no listing. That is why renewal planning is usually the most valuable seasonal strategy for an annual rental.

Pricing Through the Seasons

In a quieter stretch, the cost of an overpriced listing grows with every week it sits. Here is what one vacant week costs at each city's median asking rent, as of October 7, 2026, using rent × 12 ÷ 52:

• Jupiter: about $1,108 a week ($4,800 × 12 ÷ 52)
• Palm Beach Gardens: about $900 a week ($3,900 × 12 ÷ 52)
• Boca Raton: about $715 a week ($3,100 × 12 ÷ 52)
• Boynton Beach: about $606 a week ($2,625 × 12 ÷ 52)
• West Palm Beach: about $508 a week ($2,200 × 12 ÷ 52)

Use your own rent in the same formula, or try our vacancy loss calculator. Then set a review point. If a listing draws few showings or no applications within its first couple of weeks, revisit price, photos, and presentation before the vacancy grows. Our analysis of why some rentals lease in 7 days while others sit for 60 shows how price and presentation interact.

Association approvals and timing

In condo and HOA communities, approval steps can add time before a tenant moves in, in any season. Under Florida Statute §718.112(2)(k), a condominium may charge a lease approval fee of up to $150 per applicant, adjusted for inflation every 5 years, and may not charge it for a renewal with the same tenant. Homeowners associations may restrict rentals of less than 6 months under §720.306(1)(h). Submit complete applications early and confirm the review timeline in writing.

Storm Season and the Leasing Calendar

According to the National Hurricane Center, the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, the season peaks on September 10, and most activity occurs between mid-August and mid-October. For a rental owner, that has three practical effects on the calendar:

• Finish roof, tree, drainage, and shutter work before June. Our 12-month maintenance schedule lays out the order.
• If a lease ends in late summer or early fall, plan the move-out inspection, repairs, and next move-in with room for weather delays.
• After any storm, document the home's condition with dated photos before cleanup or repairs. Our 2026 hurricane prep guide covers the full plan.

Common Mistakes Owners Make With Seasonal Rental Trends

• Applying one county rule to every city. Furnished shares and listing ages differ widely; read your own city's figures.
• Pricing an unfurnished home against the overall median. In furnished-heavy markets, that median mixes two different products.
• Letting the end date happen by accident. A lease signed on a whim can end in the slowest week of your year.
• Starting renewal talks too late. If the notice window has passed, you lose time to plan either a renewal or a relisting.
• Holding a price too long. Each vacant week costs real money; set a review point before you list.
• Scheduling major work at the peak of storm season. Plan make-ready work and inspections with the hurricane calendar in mind.

How Atlis Plans the Year for Owners

Atlis is broker-owner led from our office on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens and manages single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and small multifamily across Palm Beach County. Our results: a 21-day average lease-up, a 74% renewal rate, and 98%+ of rent collected monthly. Management is full service only at 5–9% of collected rent with a $200 monthly minimum, no management fees on vacant units, and a fee rate locked for the life of the partnership. See our Palm Beach County property management page, our pricing, and our eight written guarantees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Seasonal trends in Palm Beach County are real, but they look different in every city. If you want help reading your city's pattern and planning your lease calendar, we are glad to talk it through.