Miami is unaffordable — especially if you fall into one of these groups

Florida’s housing crunch is hitting residents at every income level, from young would-be buyers to low-income renters. Here’s a digest of top stories on Miami’s housing market.

• Homebuying math worsens for young Miamians: The Miami metro area is one of the least affordable major markets in the country for households under 40, with a skewed price-to-income ratio — a typical home sells for $460,000 while the median young household earns just $92,591. Nationally, 61% of the 160 metros studied by Pew Research were classified as somewhat or very unaffordable for young buyers in 2024, up from 41% in 2019.
• $1,500 rent gets you less space in Miami: In Miami, $1,500 a month now gets renters roughly 498 square feet of apartment space, down from 506 square feet a year earlier. Miami ranked last among 14 Florida cities tracked by RentCafe for space per dollar, well below Jacksonville’s 902 square feet and Tampa’s 720.
• Fed decision keeps mortgage rates high: The Federal Reserve held interest rates at 3.75% and signaled a potential hike later this year as inflation climbed to 4.2% year-over-year in May. Analysts said the decision means elevated mortgage rates will keep squeezing middle-income South Florida buyers and slowing the market for sellers.
• There are few affordable homes for low-income Miamians: There are just 27 affordable homes for every 100 renters in Greater Miami earning less than half the area median income — half the average across major U.S. metros. Statewide, Florida is short roughly 655,900 rental homes affordable to those households, with nearly a third of the gap in Greater Miami.
• Miami is ranked the most unaffordable rental city: WalletHub ranked Miami the most unaffordable place for renters out of 182 U.S. cities surveyed, with median rent of $1,758 eating up nearly 34% of the city’s $62,462 median income. Nearly 60% of renters in the Greater Miami area are rent-burdened, paying 30% or more of their income toward housing.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence and using our own originally reported, written and published content. It was reviewed and edited by our journalists.