Miami rental market finally starts to cool — faster so than other major US cites, data shows
MIAMI — Miami's rental market is finally starting to show signs of cooling down and it appears to be doing so at a faster rate than other major U.S. cities, according to data from the online housing platform Zumper.
In its September 2023 National Rent Report, Zumper "zoomed in" on Miami to examine why rent prices in the area are softening more quickly than the national average, where the median rent for a one-bedroom home is up just a half-percentage point over this time last year. Additionally, Zumper broke down rental costs by neighborhood, finding what they called to be "significant" price disparities.
According to Zumper, Miami's rent prices are cooling more quickly than the rest of the country because, in contrast to the rest of Florida, the area's population is actually shrinking, as residents seek to find more affordable ways of life in places such as Orlando, Tampa and even Atlanta, Georgia. Meanwhile, new inventory is coming online, especially at the higher end of the market, Zumper added.
In its deeper analysis of Miami's 34 neighborhoods, Zumper found several distinctions across the metro area.
According to the housing platform, it comes as no surprise that the more beach-adjacent a neighborhood is, the more expensive it becomes. Zumper found Miami's most expensive neighborhood to be Venetian Islands: the string of six islands in Biscayne Bay that are "surrounded by water and rich with luxury-living options." At $3,730, the median price for a one-bedroom in Venetian Islands is more than twice as much as Miami's least-expensive neighborhood: Century Village West, Zumper stated.
Also, while prices in neighborhoods like Downtown Miami and Upper East Side are down as much as 10% year-over-year, areas like Coconut Grove and Brickell are on the rise.
Overall, Miami remains the fifth-most expensive rental market in the country, according to Zumper, just behind Boston, San Francisco, Jersey City, NJ, and New York.
The South Florida housing market in general has been especially tough on renters for a while. According to a July 2023 WalletHub study, the cities of Hialeah, Miami and Fort Lauderdale were ranked as some of the least affordable housing markets in the country, with all three ranking close to the bottom of the 182 cities surveyed. On top of that, a Florida Atlantic University joint report from June 2023 showed that the average renter in Miami has to have at least a six-figure salary to avoid being considered "rent burdened."