Shortage and high cost of housing in Miami hit relentlessly

The significant shortage of available housing in Miami and the south of Florida, Together with rising prices, it is directly hitting residents, who are forced to move to surrounding areas in search of more affordable options, real estate experts told EFE.

“The housing deficit is quite high and salaries have not reached the point of being equal to the housing expense suffered by professionals residing in Miami and South Florida”Peggy Olin, president of the real estate agency OneWorld Properties, located in Fort Lauderdale, 48 kilometers north of Miami, told EFE.

For Olin, two facts come together and have a rigorous impact on the population: firstly“people who have always lived in Miami are finding it difficult to move to central areas to be close to their jobs”.

Besides, “many people are moving from other states to these in-demand areas that they can afford”because “Their base salary is much higher than in South Florida.”

In fact, as a study by the real estate website Zillow recently revealed, the average income necessary to be able to afford the purchase of a home in the US does not fall below US$ 106,000 annually, a figure that represents an increase in 80% compared to 2020.

And the 2022 Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies report shows that “housing affordability in USA has reached worrying levels”to the point that the fifty% of tenants spend more than 30% of their income to rent the home. A situation that affects some 22.4 million homes.

Housing prices, without a roof

In Miami, where historically the annual increase in housing prices is around eleven%, “these last years were the exception, with growth of up to 22% product of the intense demand we experience”Olin added.

The same consideration was contributed by Katherina Santana, director of the real estate company Capital Int’l Realty, who stressed to EFE how “The shortage of available homes in Miami is driving up prices.”

This escalation of “price appreciation” In the real estate field, Santana explained, it has been occurring for more than 12 consecutive years, a 15.6% year after year, and, for example, last January, median home prices in Miami-Dade County increased “impressively” from $545,000 to $630,000.

“This means that home prices in Miami have grown for 146 consecutive months, which is equivalent to 12.2 years,” Santana noted.

As for condominiums, average prices increased steadily “for 146 of the last 152 months”standing at just over $400,000, and the total number of properties for sale decreased by 39.5% compared to Miami’s historical average.

For all these reasons, given the seriousness of the situation, the initiative being carried out by the Miami-Dade County Government is of vital importance, with measures “for the development of workforce housing, rebates and incentives for the development of adequate and affordable housing”Olin said.

This county program will allow “developers incorporate an affordable housing component in main areas”which “It will effectively help low- and moderate-income people who cannot afford that type of rent,” he pointed out.

Although Latin America contributed last January to the real estate appetite remaining so strong in Miami, with Colombian citizens in first place in the active search for homes in this city, that month China emerged in second place, followed by Argentina, Canada and India, according to Miami Realtors.

Miami’s real estate market has clearly expanded its appeal as a popular destination beyond Latin America, whose citizens have historically appreciated this city for its geographic proximity, business and family connections, favorable climate, political stability, developed infrastructure and its Spanish-speaking community.

“While other US markets have experienced price declines, the Miami real estate market is experiencing steady appreciation, for years,” Gus Fonte, president of the board of directors of Miami Realtors, recently said in a statement.

An interest in this real estate market that is reinforced by its “solid economy, strong rental market and a safe investment”key reasons why South Florida, Fonte noted, is the “number one destination for international home buyers.”

This fever for the Miami real estate market also extends to the entire state, to the point that Florida became the el “top US destination for foreign buyers (23% of all sales)”according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

And a 47% of all real estate transactions last year in Florida focused on a very specific area in the southeast of the state: the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach axis.

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