Palm Bay, Florida Short-Term Rental Market
The Palm Bay area STR market earned $246 ADR at 67% occupancy in June 2026.
Quick Answer: Palm Bay, Florida is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy is 67%. average monthly revenue is $4,433. average daily rate is $246. the top operator is Happy Palm Stays with 408 listings. market score is 62/100 (grade C).
Market data reflects the Melbourne/Titusville regional market, which includes Palm Bay. Regulations, taxes, and permit details below are specific to Palm Bay.
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions Apivex evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Palm Bay is the largest city in Brevard County on Florida’s Space Coast, but it functions primarily as a residential bedroom community rather than a primary tourist destination. Most regional visitor traffic flows to the beaches, Kennedy Space Center, and Cocoa Beach to the north, while Palm Bay itself attracts eco-tourists and outdoor recreation visitors drawn to Turkey Creek Sanctuary, kayaking, and Indian River Lagoon access, plus overflow lodging for Space Coast and Kennedy Space Center visitors seeking lower-cost stays. Brevard County as a whole generated roughly $4.6 billion in total tourism economic impact and $2.95 billion in visitor spending in 2023, with nearly 3 million overnight room nights across hotels and vacation rentals combined.
Short-term rental performance data in this data set is tracked at a submarket level shared across an 8-city Space Coast cluster, so the figures below describe the wider Palm Bay area STR market rather than city-limits-only precision. In June 2026, the most recent month with complete data, the area’s average daily rate across all listings was $246.25 at 67.04% occupancy, generating average monthly revenue of $4,432.61 per listing. Occupancy is down 1.99% year over year, ADR is down 1.00%, and monthly revenue is down 3.46% year over year, the only market processed in this project so far showing a year-over-year revenue decline.
Bedroom mix, listing-type mix, channel mix, and market-score data in this data set are tracked at a shared regional level rather than measured uniquely for Palm Bay, so this profile omits those figures rather than present regional numbers as if they were city-specific. Booking data for the area shows an average lead time of 58.17 days and an average length of stay of 5.22 nights.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 65% | $173 | $3,059 |
| Feb | 81% | $187 | $3,587 |
| Mar | 81% | $213 | $4,524 |
| Apr | 63% | $200 | $3,427 |
| May | 61% | $191 | $3,212 |
| Jun | 71% | $213 | $4,011 |
| Jul | 72% | $201 | $3,985 |
| Aug | 56% | $179 | $2,916 |
| Sep | 49% | $161 | $2,254 |
| Oct | 56% | $163 | $2,531 |
| Nov | 57% | $166 | $2,434 |
| Dec | 59% | $176 | $2,697 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Palm Bay
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Happy Palm Stays | 408 | 13,709 | ★ 4.82 |
| 2 | Beachside Vacation Rentals | 284 | 8,885 | ★ 4.70 |
| 3 | Evolve | 111 | 5,255 | ★ 4.69 |
| 4 | Beachside VR | 65 | 1,862 | ★ 4.49 |
| 5 | Vacasa | 63 | 1,562 | ★ 4.32 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Palm Bay?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 1,718 |
| 2 bed | 2,328 |
| 3 bed | 1,529 |
| 4 bed | 602 |
| 5 bed | 347 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $257 |
| Luxury | $407 |
| Professionally Managed | $277 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $3,883 |
| Entire Place | $4,654 |
| House | $5,078 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 34.6% |
| vrbo | 11.1% |
| both | 54.3% |
Investment Analysis
At the area’s current average daily rate of $246.25, the Palm Bay area STR market produced $4,432.61 in average monthly revenue per listing in June 2026, or roughly $53,191 annualized. Against Palm Bay’s own typical home value of $305,329.77 (per Zillow data as of June 30, 2026, a genuinely city-specific figure), that annualized revenue implies a gross rental yield of approximately 17.4% before accounting for mortgage, taxes, insurance, cleaning, and management costs.
Palm Bay’s regulatory environment is light: the city has no dedicated short-term rental ordinance and imposes no city-level permit, night caps, or owner-occupancy rules. Regulation instead flows from Florida’s state preemption law (Chapter 509), which bars municipalities from banning vacation rentals or restricting rental frequency or duration for ordinances adopted after 2011, combined with Brevard County requirements. Operators need a Florida DBPR vacation rental license and a Brevard County Business Tax Receipt, which costs about $37.00 annually.
ADR tiers show meaningful separation: entire-home listings average $256.91 per night, close to the all-listings figure, professionally managed listings average $277.15 (about 13% above the all-listings average), and luxury-tier listings command $407.47 (roughly 65% above). Revenue momentum here is a genuine outlier in this project: occupancy is down 1.99% year over year, ADR is down 1.00%, and revenue is down 3.46%, the first market processed so far with a year-over-year revenue decline rather than growth.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Guests in the Palm Bay area book an average of 58.17 days ahead of their stay, and the average length of stay is 5.22 nights, one of the longer average stays in this project. This combination points to planned Space Coast trips, likely tied to Kennedy Space Center visits, eco-tourism at Turkey Creek Sanctuary, or extended snowbird-season stays, rather than short weekend getaways.
For pricing, a roughly eight-week booking window gives owners solid visibility into demand ahead of the February and March peak, allowing early bookings to be priced firmly while later gaps get discounted closer to arrival. The longer 5.22 night average stay means lower turnover per listing than in many markets in this batch, which can help offset cleaning and turnover costs relative to revenue. Given the winter and spring-weighted seasonal pattern here, owners should prioritize firm pricing for February and March rather than assuming a typical summer-beach peak applies.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term rentals are legal in Palm Bay. The city has no dedicated STR ordinance and imposes no city-level permit, night caps, or owner-occupancy rules; regulation instead comes from Florida state law and Brevard County. Under Florida’s state preemption law (Chapter 509), municipalities cannot ban vacation rentals or restrict rental frequency or duration for ordinances adopted after 2011.
To operate legally, an owner must obtain a Florida DBPR vacation rental license as a transient public lodging establishment, register with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect and remit taxes, and obtain a Brevard County Business Tax Receipt, which costs about $37.00 per year and requires proof of ownership, renewed annually.
On taxes, guests staying six months or less pay the 5.00% Brevard County Tourist Development Tax, commonly called the bed tax, plus Florida’s 6% state sales tax and any applicable local surtax, for a combined burden of roughly 11% or more. There is no maximum-nights limit and no primary-residence or owner-occupancy requirement in Palm Bay.
Enforcement at the city level is minimal, since there is no local STR program; compliance centers mainly on maintaining state and county licenses and remitting taxes correctly. Effective October 1, 2025, Tourist Development Tax collection in Brevard County moved from the Tax Collector to the Brevard County Clerk of Court, though the rate remains 5.00%. Investors should confirm current requirements directly with the Palm Bay City Clerk and the Brevard County Clerk of Court.
Market Comparison
The Palm Bay area’s 67.04% occupancy in June 2026 runs well above the roughly 55% median occupancy typically seen across the broader U.S. short-term rental market, while its $246.25 average daily rate is somewhat above the roughly $220 national median ADR. This combination reflects steady demand tied to Space Coast overflow lodging, eco-tourism, and a winter and spring-weighted visitor pattern rather than a single summer peak.
Top property manager data in this data set is tracked at a shared regional level across an 8-city Space Coast cluster rather than uniquely for Palm Bay, so this profile does not present specific operator names, listing counts, or ratings as Palm Bay-specific. Palm Bay’s own performance trend is a more distinctive local factor: unlike most markets processed in this project, revenue here is down 3.46% year over year, a genuine softening worth monitoring rather than assuming continued growth.
Frequently Asked Questions About Palm Bay, Florida
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