Feeling squeezed? Your Miami apartment is getting smaller, a new survey says
.jpg "Developers 13th Floor Investments, chosen by the city of South Miami to redevelop its municipal complex, has proposed a new city hall and police building, center, facing Sunset Drive, and apartment towers surrounding a public space. This file image is from Sept. 2024.")
If you think your Miami apartment feels a little tight, join the club.
In a city that doesn’t have a whole lot of room, builders are making apartments smaller. The average size apartment in Miami has shrunk to below 900 square feet for the first time in at least a decade, according to RentCafe, an affiliate of California-based Yardi, a national real estate company.
A Florida survey by Rent Cafe puts Miami No. 8 on the list of apartment size, with an average of 895 square feet. On the other end, Tallahassee and Gainesville lead the pack with the largest apartments in the state. The survey looked at studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
While apartment size is increasing nationally, the theme in Florida is the same: Tenants are getting less room.
What’s driving the trend in Miami?
“Studios and one-bedroom apartments are taking the lead, now representing 56% of new units,” according to RentCafe. “As smaller units dominate the landscape, the average size of apartments in the city is shrinking.”
New buildings in Wynwood and Brickell are attracting younger residents who are more interested in being at the center of things in walkable neighborhoods than in having a lot of apartment space.
The size of a Miami apartment isn’t the only thing that’s dropping. Rent has gone down, too.
In South Florida, the median apartment rent has dipped to $2,373 as of December 2024, according to real estate firm Redfin. The figure represents a drop of about 4% from 2023 when the median rent was at $2,470.
Even with dropping rents, Miami is ranked second on the least affordable list.
This story was originally published May 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM.
