Florida’s real estate ‘gold rush’ draws the super-rich as rising costs push others out | Florida

To the casual observer, everything looks rosy in South Florida’s real estate garden. One “gold rushIn Miami, ultra-wealthy buyers snap up mega-mansions and luxuriously appointed apartments as soon as they hit the market, and the Guardian also recently reported on the “Mamdani effect” of elite New Yorkers arriving with fat wallets to the sunny state in search of a high-priced escape from the city’s new mayor.

But alongside the explosion are the rumblings of a more disturbing parallel reality. To be sure, the billionaire class is helping pump even more dollars into the already booming Florida economy. But as prices rise and the less affluent find everything from housing and insurance to gas and groceries increasingly expensive, many people are considering doing something about it.

A. latest survey A study by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) showed that at least half of the state’s residents are considering leaving the state due to the high cost of living; 80% of residents in the state expressed concerns about housing affordability.

Experts say there is no full-blown panic, and there is little sign that traditionally low-wage essential workers in education, health care and other service sectors that cater to newcomers are leaving in droves just yet. Equal Eric LevyFAU’s senior business economist and co-author of the survey said he prefers to see this as evidence that the American Dream is alive and families are making plans to improve their circumstances.

The evidence that trouble is coming is more than anecdotal. This has been helped by housing costs that are significantly above average in many regions advancing florida Among the 10 most expensive states to live in; The popular metropolitan area that includes Miami and Fort Lauderdale — where newly constructed apartments can run into the tens of millions of dollars — is also known as “house poor.” There are three cities in the top six Consumer Affairs report It falls into the affordability category when the percentage of household income spent on housing is 32% or higher, compared to the national average of 24%.

May 2025 report Meanwhile, the Miami Herald said Miami’s millionaire population grew by 94% between 2014 and 2024, while Miami-Dade County experienced a net migration gap of more than 130,000 between 2020 and 2023, largely but not entirely due to rising housing costs.

Some of those who moved away we are talking about high prices and they force them out by choking traffic.

“Floridians believe in the American Dream, but they pay a heavy price for it.” Monica Escalerasthe chair of FAU’s economics department said in a statement accompanying the survey. “Florida’s promise of solar, growth and upward mobility remains alive, but it’s getting expensive to hold on to.”

Levy said the “grass is greener” sentiment isn’t unique to Florida residents, and the growing wealth disparity between incoming and outgoing residents is also notable.

“Surely it is thought-provoking that if a lot of wealthy people move in, they will displace low-income and middle-income people?” he said.

“That’s definitely an interesting question. I don’t think our data shows that, but I think what was shocking in our survey was that a lot of people were considering leaving Florida.”

Other relevant data point to the same conclusion; Super-wealthy buyers flock in due to year-round good weather and the absence of state income taxes, while others are priced out.

For example, pediatricians it’s getting scarcer in hospitals and private practices. There are other reasons, including Florida’s. unorthodox vaccine policies This deters medical professionals, but few graduate doctors with significant college debt can afford to lose so much of their income for housing, opting instead to find work in lower-cost states.

The steady flow of new residents to Florida also appears to have slowed. 2025 study of migration patterns Atlas Van Lines’ research noted a nearly even split between inbound and outbound numbers. Between 2023 and 2024, 1,200 people per day It was moving, according to a separate Consumer Affairs investigation. Newer predictions, sharp deceleration up to about 500.

Keeping residents employed in hospitals, schools, retail stores and other essential industries and services has become a priority for municipalities and private sector partners. affordable housing projects It’s ongoing in Miami.

The urgency of the vision is also shared by Sebastian Lüdke, founder and CEO of the ALP.X Group in Germany and co-developer of the upcoming project. Cloud One Residences85 loft-style apartments paired with a hotel, retail and dining center in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.

Far from the opulence of South Beach’s multimillion-dollar waterfront condos, he chose to build in the trendy, revitalized former industrial district and the equally expensive, fast-paced downtown Brickell neighborhood. Although Cloud One is not an affordable housing development, Lüdke said the project is designed to improve Wynwood, including providing jobs for local workers.

He also said he believes developers have a moral responsibility to the communities in which they choose to build.

“The price point we’ve set starts at $400,000 to $500,000, so local people’s ability to live in the building and afford it will certainly be affordable,” he said. “But overall the whole aspect of affordability in the city is important, and it goes beyond affordability and livability.

“What is extremely important for Miami to develop as one of the three largest cities next to New York and Los Angeles is the improvement of education, from kindergarten to schools and universities. With affordable and accessible education, people are developed a certain amount of skills, which helps them gain access to good jobs that will help them in the long run.”

“Investments in infrastructure, affordable housing, public transportation, healthcare are also extremely important… With the growth that Miami is seeing and the challenges that Miami is facing in terms of traffic, education, housing availability, this really needs to be a key focus for public administration and business people contributing to investments in all of these sectors.

“My perception is that local people and business people are well aware of this.”