Miami housing crisis: affordability, regulation and change

Miami faces a housing crisis shaped by rent burdens, condo regulation and rising redevelopment pressures.

Redfin data show Miami rents are falling, but the city remains one of the nation’s least affordable places for renters, with the required income to rent far above what most people earn.

Condo owners struggle with steeply rising association fees and repairs, worsened by state-mandated reserves after the Surfside collapse and nearly half of Florida’s Fannie Mae-ineligible condos located in Miami. The secretive Fannie Mae condo blacklist now covers hundreds of Miami buildings, blocking access to mortgages and repair funding.

As financial stress grows, developer buyouts and condo terminations are more appealing, especially for aging buildings and those facing escalating costs or safety violations.

Stephania Germain, 24, who is on a Section 8 housing voucher, poses inside her apartment that she lives in with her daughter on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, in Miami. Germain was raised in foster care and is doing the best she can for herself and her baby. She says that even with the voucher, with recent increases it makes paying rent tough. “It just keeps going up and I don’t get a break to save, and I need new baby clothes, ya know they grow out of them so fast,” said Germain. By Alie Skowronski

NO. 1: MIAMIANS ARE THE MOST RENT-BURDENED PEOPLE IN AMERICA — AND THEY’RE STRESSED ABOUT IT

New Census Bureau data shows that Miamians spend a larger chunk of their incomes on housing than residents in all other major American cities. | Published October 8, 2024 | Read Full Story by Max Klaver

An exterior shot from Collins Avenue of people walking past the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, in Bal Harbour, Florida, Tuesday, November 21, 2020. By Daniel A. Varela

NO. 2: MIAMI CONDO OWNERS IN LUXURY TOWERS ON THE BEACH SUE COMPANIES OVER SAFETY CONCERNS

What to know about the case at the Bal Harbour complex near Surfside. | Published November 14, 2024 | Read Full Story by Vinod Sreeharsha

View of the DOWNTOWN MIAMI skyline from Watson Island, on Wednesday July 31, 2024. By Pedro Portal

NO. 3: COULD YOUR CONDO BE A TAKEOVER TARGET? KNOW THE SIGNS THAT COULD ATTRACT A DEVELOPER

Unit owners in older buildings are facing new expenses. | Published January 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Miami Herald Archives

A view of a resurgent Northeast Second Avenue in the heart of Miami’s Overtown neighborhood in April 2021, with the Plaza at the Lyric apartments at left and a Red Rooster restaurant in the background at right. By Pedro Portal

NO. 4: RENTERS ARE PAYING LESS FOR APARTMENTS IN MIAMI, BUT THERE ARE ISSUES. SEE THE COSTS

Here’s a look at housing costs and ways to navigate the crisis. | Published March 14, 2025 | Read Full Story by Howard Cohen

Condos line the Intracoastal Waterway in Sunny Isles Beach. By MATIAS J. OCNER

NO. 5: ‘PERFECT STORM.’ HUNDREDS OF SOUTH FLORIDA CONDOS NOW ON SECRET MORTGAGE BLACKLIST

The number of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach condos on the list has more than doubled in just two years. | Published April 4, 2025 | Read Full Story by Andres Viglucci

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.