By Gay Cororaton, MIAMI REALTORS Chief Economist
During the pandemic, about one in five households or an estimated 23 million households adopted pets. However, pet adoption is waning, resulting in overcrowding in pet shelters. In Miami-Dade County, overcrowding has reached a crisis level such that the county was forced to close its animal shelters several times in 2023 and in 2024. The County has called on communities to adopt pets.
In response to this call, MIAMI REALTORS® conducted an analysis on pet ownership, the availability of pet-friendly rental listings, and the benefits to rental owners and property managers of allowing pets (“pet-friendly” policy).
Main findings:
As of July 2024, 50% of active rentals on the MIAMI MLS allow pets (“pet-friendly”). Among multifamily rentals, only 45% were pet-friendly. Among single-family rentals, 71% were pet-friendly.
The most pet-friendly places were Bay Harbor Islands (65% of multifamily units allowed pets), North Bay Village (58%), and Homestead (56%). At least half of multifamily units rented out were pet-friendly in Coral Gables (53%), Miami (51%), Doral (51%), Miami Beach (50%), North Miami Beach (50%) and Aventura (50%).
The potential benefits of allowing pets are a bigger pool of renters, higher rental income as pet owners are often willing to pay a higher rent, and reduced tenant turnover and vacancy rates.
Pet-friendly multifamily units typically rented out for more than units that did not allow pets. During June-July 2024, the median rent on pet-friendly units was $2,800 compared to $2,500 among units that did not allow pets.
Based on data on rented units through the MIAMI MLS, pet-friendly multifamily units typically rented out faster than units that did not allow pets. During January-July 2024, the median days on market of pet-friendly units was 36 days compared to 41 days for units that did not allow pets.
Pet-friendly multifamily units were typically larger and newer which partly helps to explain the higher rent among pet-friendly units. Among multifamily units rented during January-July 2024, half of rented pet-friendly units were built before 1999 while half of rented units rented that did not allow pets were built before 1984.
Pet ownership in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area, with 29% of households owning pets, lags the national rate, at 50%.
Homeowners, higher-income households, households headed by a person with a bachelor’s or graduate/professional degrees, and households headed by persons 25 to 34 years old are more likely to own pets. The sustained migration of high-income and younger households in the area is likely to bolster the demand for pet-friendly rentals.
Download the Pet-Friendly Rentals in Miami-Dade County Report below.
