Performance Overview
Greetings Realtor Partner :
As you know , 2024 was a year of continued soft demand in the vacation rental market on the Emerald and Forgotten Coasts , with most Key Performance Indicators ( KPIs ) in most communities experiencing another year of downward pressure on pricing .
One of the key drivers of this has been the continued increase in supply of vacation rentals in our area . How has it impacted our market ? In Q4 of 2024 we saw a 6.1 % decrease in Average Daily Rate ( ADR ), a 5 % decrease in Adjusted Paid Occupancy ( APO ), and a 10 % decrease in RevPAR compared to the same time last year ( STLY ).
Signs of an Improving Market ? In our Annual Report , you will see data for all of 2024 for both the 360 Blue portfolio and for the Market as a whole . You ’ ll also see how 2024 metrics compare to 2023 . As you review the data , there ’ s one important point I ’ d like you to keep in mind . While MOST of the communities in our market were down in most KPIs YOY , the same cannot be said for ALL of them . Two communities paced ahead in RevPAR for 2024 vs 2023 . Inlet Beach posted a 5.8 % increase ; and Seaside posted a 6.4 % increase .
Forward looking metrics are looking either unchanged or perhaps a bit better . The Market for the Emerald and Forgotten Coasts combined are up 5 % in ADR . However , it ’ s down 5.6 % in APO . Overall , RevPAR is flat compared to STLY . We expect Occupancy to pick up , but ADRs to come down as we approach arrival dates . One clear positive : The supply of nights available to book have slightly decreased from 4.25 million to 4.21 million nights . While this decrease may appear nominal , it indicates an unambiguous deceleration in supply — and that is very good news .
The Takeaway According to Walton County Tourism , we saw just over 2 million visitors during Summer 2024 — down from 2.33 million in 2023 . History is an important benchmark here . You have to go all the way back to 2018 to see 2024-level demand . That year we saw a mere 2.04 million Summer visitors . The fact that there ’ s a far greater supply of vacation rental options now vs then accounts for much of the downward pressure on pricing we ’ re seeing .
04 360 BLUE • 2024 ANNUAL REVIEW