What ‘Mamdani effect?’ Miami’s millionaires already sideline regular home buyers | Opinion

With Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York putting housing front and center in the headlines, it shines a light on a truth that South Florida has been living for years: housing affordability is a structural shift that demands action.

Many commentators say Mamdani’s win could signal more migration from high-cost states to Florida. But the more urgent story is already unfolding: South Florida is already drawing a growing share of high-net-worth individuals and companies, not simply people seeking lower costs of housing.

The region’s appeal to wealth is reshaping our housing market and placing local homebuyers at risk of being sidelined. According to a Miami Realtors analysis, the Miami metropolitan area is No. 5 in the world for most millionaire growth. The same report estimates there was a 94% growth in the number of millionaires in the area between 2014-2024. Residents in Miami-Dade are effectively being priced out of traditional homeownership.

Here’s what this means on the ground: inventory is tight at the key entry levels for local buyers. Axios has reported that starter homes in South Florida have now topped $1 million in some communities. We’re also seeing that cash and luxury buyers dominate many transactions. Over 38% of Miami closed sales in March 2025 were cash deals, according to Miami Realtors. Teachers, nurses, first responders and small-business owners are seeing fewer realistically priced options in the communities where they live and work.

This is our present reality and the only way to change the outcome is to build the solution: affordable for-sale housing for the residents who make South Florida run.

From what we’ve seen working with local families and essential workers, access to homeownership changes everything. It builds stability and keeps residents rooted in the places they serve. Through down payment assistance and first-time buyer programs, families and individuals have been able to save tens of thousands of dollars, often the difference between continuing to rent and finally owning a home.

That’s why this moment matters. Every headline about migration or rising prices feels distant until it hits home, when a teacher realizes she can’t afford to live near her school, or when a firefighter is outbid on a starter home by someone paying cash from out of state.

We can’t afford to move slowly. People are ready to buy; they just need homes they can afford and a system that helps get them built faster. Right now, too many projects sit in limbo for months waiting for approvals or paperwork to clear. Those delays mean fewer homes on the market and higher prices for everyone.

The sooner we can get these homes built, the sooner we can keep more families in Miami-Dade living and working in their communities.

We need a more responsive process, one that treats affordable homeownership projects with the same urgency as infrastructure or economic development. We must give zoning and permitting departments the resources to move attainable housing projects faster and expand awareness campaigns so residents know these programs exist and how to access them.

Florida has the opportunity to lead differently. We can welcome newcomers and investment without leaving our workforce and longtime residents behind. We can choose to build homes locals can buy, homes that honor their contribution and keep them anchored in the community they help to make.

It doesn’t require waiting for national policy to change or the reversal of migration trends. It simply requires that we build inventory for locals and ensure those homes are known and accessible. Otherwise, one of our greatest strengths in South Florida of being a diverse, rooted, intergenerational community, will start to feel out of reach for our residents.

Salim Chraibi is the CEO of Bluenest Development, which builds attainable homes for working families across South Florida.

This story was originally published November 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM.