Lower rents in some S. Florida cities mean housing can be more affordable
Residential rents across South Florida dropped in November. Let us repeat that again. Many of us are now paying less for rent.
In a region where housing costs seem to be going up with no end in sight, this news in South Florida sounds shocking after triple-digit increases during the pandemic.
But rents have indeed decreased yearover-year — 1% to 15% — in several cities across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to the latest monthly Miami Metro report by online national rental listing company Zumper.
The company surveyed the median asking rents in November 2023 versus November 2022 for new listings in 29 of the most populated cities in the tri-county area. The listings consist of apartments, condos, houses and townhouses on Zumper and third-party sites, including the Multiple Listing Service.
WHERE ARE THE BIGGEST CHANGES?
Asking rents dwindled in 14 cities for one bedrooms and in 10 cities for two bedrooms:
Rents fell the most in Sunny Isles Beach (14.4%), Plantation (10.1%) and Dania Beach (10.1%) for one-bedroom residences, and in Aventura (14.5%), North Miami (10.4%) and Fort Lauderdale (5.7%) for two bedrooms.
Asking rents stayed flat — less than a 1% change — in six cities for one-bedroom residences and in seven cities for two bedrooms. For one-bedrooms, the cities include Miami Beach (0%), Aventura (0%), Hallandale Beach (0.5%), Coral Springs (0%), Oakland Park (0.6%) and Homestead (0%). For two-bedrooms, rents remained flat in Miami (0.6%), Doral (0%), Plantation (0.8%), Davie (0.4%), Coral Springs (0%), Oakland Park (0.5%) and West Palm Beach (0%).
Still, some cities saw rents increase. Rents rose the most in Hollywood (11.8%), Coral Gables (9.4%) and Hialeah (7.4%) for one-bedroom rentals, and in Miami Gardens (14.3%), Hollywood (9.2%) and Sunny Isles Beach (7.9%) for two bedrooms.
WHY ARE RENTS DECREASING?
Migration and rental supply drove down rents, said Crystal Chen, a Zumper data analyst.
“It is a renters’ market,” she said, “and renters are in the driving seat. Good news for them since rents are coming down a lot.”
Annual rents first showed signs of cooling this summer. Rents soared during the pandemic as wealthy people moved to town. Executives and remote workers relocated to South Florida during the pandemic for the warm climate, zero income tax and lean COVID policies.
But some of those transplants have returned home to the Northeast or West Coast, called back to the office or just missing their familiar territory. And longtime residents also found new places to call home, in cities with lower costs of living. All of that has contributed to Miami-Dade County’s nearly 28,000 population decline in recent years.
Supply is influencing rent prices in
South Florida. The region had about 19,000 active rental listings in November 2023, up from about 8,000 listings in November 2022.
Rents, Chen said, are expected to fall further or remain steady for most cities in South Florida through the first half of next year.
ARE RESIDENTIAL RENTS OUT OF REACH?
Falling rent sounds like good news for