Skyrocketing housing prices in places like California, New York, and even Seattle are customarily cited as one reason people flee these areas for the greener, cheaper pastures in red states.
But it turns out that one red state is home to the hottest, most expensive real estate market in the country. Miami.
In February, the website RealtyHop.com, a New York-based group that specializes in locating undervalued condominiums, coops, and homes for investors and buyers with an “investment mindset,” identified Miami as the least affordable big city housing market in the country.
The group’s survey was based on its “affordability” index, which largely measures how much of household income is needed for home-related costs in America’s 100 most populous cities.
Miami emerged in the top spot among the least affordable, as households would have to spend 78.7 percent of income on housing costs.
New York was a close second, with Los Angeles, Newark, and Jersey City rounding out the top five.
RealtyHop noted that Miami began rising up its index last year.
Still, Miami does not have the most expensive housing market. The median listed price runs about $589,000.
In comparison, the median price in New York City is $970,000, while in LA it is $925,000.
Rather, Miami is now the least affordable because its median income is about $43,400 a year. That compares to more than $68,000 in both New York and Los Angeles.
At the other end of the spectrum is Wichita, where the income expense for housing is 15.1 percent. Just above Wichita in the most affordable category are Fort Wayne, Detroit, Lubbock and Cleveland.
Other Florida cities on the RealtyHop index, in descending order for least to most affordable, include Hialeah (7th), Tampa (23rd), Orlando (47th), St. Petersburg (48th), and Jacksonville (73rd).
“What we’ve been seeing since the pandemic is Miami is the destination for a lot of out-of-state residents,” RealtyHop data scientist Shane Lee told the real estate website TheRealDeal.com. “These people often bring in more money than [locals].”
“Miami has become increasingly unaffordable especially for those local residents. They’re the ones who increasingly struggle with homeownership.”
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