Study: Miami Was The Hottest U.S. Rental Market In 2022

Miami “was by far the hottest rental market in the U.S” in 2022, according to a new study by RentCafe.

The analysis showed that 97.5% of units in Miami-Dade County were occupied  – the highest of all major markets.

The lease renewal rate in the county was also exceptionally high at 75%.

When apartments did become available, there were 32 prospective tenants for each unit – the highest in the study.

Vacant apartments in Miami-Dade were also quickly filled, in just 25 days.

Miami had the highest recorded new inventory of the top 20 markets, with a “staggering” 2.8% share of new apartments in the first part of the year. It still was “far from meeting the high demand” in Miami, the report said.

According to the website, a combination of factors — including the lack of state income tax, business-friendly climate and booming tech scene have attracted droves of Millennials and even Gen Zers to Miami.

RentCafe researchers analyzed data from Yardi Systems across 135 rental markets in the U.S. for the study.

 

(source: RentCafe)

48 Comments
most voted
newest oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Anonymous
5 months ago

Grand Rapids is #2??? dafuk

Anonymous
5 months ago

Miami-Dade is #1 but Broward is only #14? Below population-bleeding dumps like Philly, Omaha, Rochester, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, and Harrisburg? Something’s not right with this study….Broward and M-D County are the same metro–why such a competitive score spread?

Aurelius
5 months ago

It’s really not that much of a spread, the entire list is the 20 most competitive markets in the entire country. Heck, this list is 25% florida markets. Out of over a couple hundered markets. Essentially Broward is in the top 5% of the US.

Juan
5 months ago

The people who live and work in Fort Lauderdale have very little to do with the people that live and work in Miami proper. It’s nothing like the well connected northern metros like Newark and NYC.

Anonymous
5 months ago

You couldn’t be more wrong. How long have you lived in South Florida?

Anonymous
5 months ago

He’s just a Broward basher, or rather “everything but Miami basher,” because sometimes it’s fun to joke about Broward.

Anonymous
5 months ago

Ft. Lauderdale proper isn’t all of Broward.

Anonymous
5 months ago

people go back and forth daily if not weekly

Anonymous
5 months ago

Who goes from New York to Newark except for a flight?

dan marino
5 months ago

i agree….something is up with the study…and that 97% occupancy rate is full a chit….i see empty units all over the new and older builds…how many “for lease” signs do you see down the sides of buildings…and now they are unveiling the get two months for free incentives…bloat is real

Anonymous
5 months ago

just wait another 12 months…

Ana
5 months ago

How do you know the units are empty? Cause you looked inside each one? Mass migration to Miami and high levels of intra-city migration to the urban core don’t agree with your anecdotal comment.

Anonymous
5 months ago

Actually, the US Census paints a totally different population gain picture than the one purported on this site.

Anonymous
5 months ago

The Census only exists to be inaccurate, for career politicians to keep their seats and states their electoral votes where losing population.

Aurelius
5 months ago

Miami is losing people at the lower end. Higher income people are moving to Miami pushing lower income people out.

My understanding is that the urban areas are seeing an influx but the people leaving are in the suburbs. Lower to middle class families moving to central Florida due to the exploding rents.

melo doppleganger
5 months ago

who will cook your uber eats and make your starbucks and work the front concierge desk if they cant live here???? are you gonna do all of that yourself????? heaven forbid

Next Gen
5 months ago

Feeling bad you get that impression but that’s not how I feel. It’s not about superiority; it’s about property value and the cost to maintain a neighborhood with so much traffic and activity. I understand that Brickell has a metro train that gets people here safely and quickly and more affordable places to walk or bike here from Riverside and Little Havana. I wish those areas were better maintained and updated too.

Anonymous
5 months ago

The US Census was conducted during the initial 2020 peak of the pandemic. People were knocking on doors to try to get them filled out, but you couldn’t open the door for them bc it was a weird time of lockdowns, and news reported fake scammers posing as government officials.

Anonymous
5 months ago

I know a friend who had to wait two months for a vacancy – rent a place sight unseen, within an hour of becoming vacant, and saw rent go up 25% year after year.

Next Gen
5 months ago

There are a handful apartment buildings in Brickell, and I encountered a two month wait for one. Had to sign a lease and wait a few months just to be safe. Didn’t even have a chance to see it so had to use photos.

Apartments go like hot cakes, especially 2 bedrooms. I overheard a leasing agent tell a prospective tenant that the second a 2 bedroom becomes available people in the building snatch it to upgrade from a 1bedroom. I saw rent go up 50% within months of my apartment search. When I finally found one my rent increased 25% after one year.

Aurelius
5 months ago

Try and lease a unit in these “empty” buildings. They’re not raising rents because they are empty.

I work in development and we cant build units fast enough. There are plenty of project in the pipeline but because inflation is pushing the cost of construction through the roof and the permitting process is so challenging its hard to get most of these project started.

Silly rabbit
5 months ago

Prices for materials is going down now though so that might help. Permitting is an issue and hopefully it will be less of one when there is a down turn. Kinda the norm around here is that the government tries to siphon as much money out of pockets when times are thick, when times are thin they beg developers to build and construct more with virtually no push back.

homeland security from radio mambi
5 months ago

price gougin at city core…lotta areas just north,just south,just west have lots of units…its a glut

Anonymous
5 months ago

Omaha is doing aight.

Bob
5 months ago

Is this considered a good thing or bad thing?

I can see the positives of this from a strictly a development need and growth perspective.

But it’s a huge negative toward QOL, affordability, population growth, and will lead to brain drain, as new graduates will have to leave to establish roots early in their careers

anonymous
5 months ago

Hopefully this continues to spur development throughout MIami and particularly areas near the metrorail. The hardest part about MIami is if you dont live in the core it takes a long time to get around by car. But as more dense developments pop up around the metrorail you’ll be able to work in places like Brickell and easily commute. Even Brightline opening up in Aventura and Boca will help

Anonymous
5 months ago

If employers adjust salaries for full time residents in Miami it would help adjust for higher cost of living and real estate…

Maybe there can be a work-from-home income tax for people making out of state salaries and working from home here. I know nobody likes the “T” word but it seems unfair for people to get out of state salaries and not pay any taxes. Maybe Im wrong but that seems like double bonuses and makes it harder for local Florida businesses to provide competitive salaries .

melo for what
5 months ago

one of the better comments here….

Jon
5 months ago

A local income tax for those who work from out of state or even out of the metro area would be great in my opinion.

Anonymous
5 months ago

Not necessarily. If we bring more high paying jobs to Miami, they can stay and have a better QoL. We need more office space and more companies to relocate here.

Anonymous
5 months ago

We aren’t really bringing higher paying jobs here to Miami, at least permanently, if those people are working from home with NY salaries. Let’s use the legislative powers to incentivize HQs to permanently move down here where workers are located, and elevate salaries here in Miami.

Anonymous
5 months ago

Is there another way to incentivize local employers to provide comparable salaries to those of remote workers from NY? Otherwise wouldn’t people just choose to work remotely for a NY HQ over a local Miami HQ?

Qtip
5 months ago

It sucks to deal with but the city isn’t getting in the way of development and tons of units are in the works. This is what happens when a city becomes popular overnight.

MM305
5 months ago

BRO popular over night?!? Where you been since the 80’s?

Anonymous
5 months ago

Well bro, I was here in the 90s when the city declared bankruptcy, and 2009 when real estate investors were begging empty condos to be filled with renters.

Anonymous
5 months ago

2009 was after the Great Recession. Millennials in Florida were flopping around like fish out of water trying to find jobs here. Millennials had to move to NYC, Chicago or LA to find employment. Now they CAN be employed anywhere and have highly successful businesses here for support.

Aurelius
5 months ago

There aren’t many top schools in south florida. There isn’t a brain drain as much of a brain faucet. The people moving here are higher educated/paid people form NY which is why the cost are increasing.

And their QOL is shooting up as they can afford more here than there.

Anonymous
5 months ago

Top schools is subjective and depends how you rank. The teachers here are just as qualified and intelligent if not more than in other Cities, especially now with educators moving here and the expanding culture.

Aurelius
5 months ago

It’s not completely subjective. For example if you look at the MBA rankings whree graduates are getting employed and the salaries they get are huge component of the ranking. That is fairly objective. The higher ranked schools are putting out graduates that work at higher profile companies making more money.

There aren’t many top MBA programs in Florida however now because of the desirability of the states more people who graduated from higher schools are starting to see Florida (especially Miami) as a viable option.

In retrunt that allows more higher profile companies to have locations here as the talent pool is increasing.

Miami-Tokyo
5 months ago

What makes you believe educators are moving here? The state government just offered up and incentive for veterans to convert into educators because there is a shortage.

Anonymous
5 months ago

I just know a lot of highly educated teachers who moved here during the pandemic and more planning to move.

MM305
5 months ago

Did you read the article, it is not a brain drain, it is the opposite, people are flocking to Miami. It has reached critical mass, the opposite of your bogus idea. Miami “attracted droves of Millennials and even Gen Zers”.

Anonymous
5 months ago

It was so hot it burned all my savings🔥

Anonymous
5 months ago

“NY was so cold it froze all my assets”

Anonymous
5 months ago

Just a catchy song lyric or poetry for the times, not agreeing with either ⬆️ Both Cities are great and places with opportunities to succeed.

Anonymous
5 months ago

I thought the only competition in Rochester and Milwaukee was who could move out the quickest.

get.real
5 months ago

97.5% LOL