By Gay Cororaton, MIAMI REALTORS Chief Economist
Key Takeaways
- The Miami market area is undergoing the most intense construction activity among the largest 90 metro areas as of 2025 Q1, with 32,014 units under construction, adding 23.8% to the existing inventory.
- The typical multifamily asking rent growth in the Miami Metro area rose 2.2% in March 2025, a moderate pace compared to nationally (2.9%) but a faster pace compared to other Sunbelt markets.
- Asking rents will likely continue to rise although at a modest low single-digit pace in the next 3-4 years due to the wave of new supply. A rising population, sustained job growth, and challenging affordability conditions in the for-sale market will continue to drive the robust demand for multifamily rentals in South Florida.
Read the 2025 Q1 Southeast Florida Residential Rental Market Report HERE.
Miami is undergoing the most intense construction activity among 90 largest metros
The Miami market area is undergoing the most intense construction activity as of 2025 Q1, with 32,014 units under construction, adding 23.8% to the existing inventory. No other metro area matches this level of intensity.[1]
The second most intense construction activity is happening in Durham, North Carolina, with 8,000 units under construction, adding 13% to the existing stock. Sarasota, Florida comes next with 4,500 units under construction, adding 11% to the existing stock.
By number of units under construction as of 2025 Q1, the Miami market area has the third largest units under construction. New York has the most units under construction (53,756, 5.9% of inventory) followed by Dallas/Fort Worth (32,898, 3.8% of inventory).
In addition to the units under construction in the Miami market area, there are another 8,967 units under construction in the Fort Lauderdale area, adding 8.1% to the existing inventory. Another 3,214 units are under construction in the Palm Beach area, adding 4.5% to the existing inventory.
Miami multifamily asking rents rose at a modest pace of 2% in 2025 Q1 but is outpacing rent growth in most Sunbelt markets
The typical multifamily asking rent growth in the Miami Metro area rose 2.2% in March 2025, a moderate pace compared to nationally (2.9%) and at the beginning of the year (2.6% in January 2025).
However, multifamily asking rents in the Miami Metro area (2.2%) rose at a faster pace compared to other Sunbelt markets like Houston (+1.9%), Orlando (+1.0%), Charlotte (+0.9%), Atlanta (+0.5%), Phoenix (-0.4%), San Antonio (-1.2%), and Denver (-2.7%).
However, asking rent growth in the Maimi Metro area is lower than nationally (2.9%) and in metro areas like Chicago (5.5%), New York (4.3%) , Washington DC (4.1%), and Los Angeles (2.8%) where vacancy rates are lower. However, in the Port St. Lucie Metro area, the typical asking rent far outpaced the national increase of 2.9%.
The Miami Metro continues to have a lower vacancy rate (5.8%) in professionally managed apartment units compared to nationally (6.9%).[2] The Miami Metro area has a lower vacancy rate than other Sunbelt markets like Chalotte (8.4%), Jacksonville (7.5%), Orlando, (7.1%), Atlanta (7.6%), Dallas (8.6%), Austin (9.9%), Houston (8.2%), and Phoenix (7.8%).
However, the Miami Metro area vacancy rate is higher than other gateway metro areas like New York (4.9%), Chicago (4,9%), Boston (5.2%), Washington DC (5.5%), Los Angeles (5.0%), and San Francisco (4.6%) where new construction has not been as robust as in the Sunbelt markets.
Southeast Florida Rent Outlook: asking rents will continue to increase albeit at a modest pace
Asking rents will likely continue to rise although at a modest low single-digit pace due to the new supply. In the Miami market area, the units under construction are equivalent to about 4 to 4 years of net annual absorption. Higher tariffs will tend to raise construction costs that will be passed on to the cost of rent.
A rising population, sustained job growth, and challenging affordability conditions in the for-sale market will continue to drive a robust demand for rentals in South Florida. As of March 2025, the principal payment, interest, taxes, and insurance (PITI) on a single-family home purchased at the median sales price with 10% downpayment exceeds that median single-family rent by about $1,500 to $2,000 in Miami-Dade ($5,546 PITI vs. $3,525 median asking rent, Broward County ($5,256 vs. $3,500), and in Palm Beach County ($5,174 vs. $3,695).
[1] Source: Cushman and Wakefield 2025 Q1 Multifamily Market Beat Report
[2] Apartment List.com
