By Gay Cororaton, MIAMI REALTORS Chief Economist
Key Takeaways
- Asking rent growth in the Miami Metro Area rose 0.9% in December 2025 while asking rents fell in most Sunbelt markets where vacancy rates are higher.
- Southeast Florida has the most intense multifamily construction activity in the nation as of 2025 Q4, with 36,290 units, adding 9% to the current stock.
- More deliveries for Class A product and fewer completions of Fully Affordable units have pushed up rents in the low rent tier and softened rents in the upper rent tier.
Download the December 2025 Southeast Florida Rental Market Report HERE.
Asking rents on multifamily units in the Miami Metro Area rose 0.9% from one year ago in December 2025, based on rentals posted on Zillow. Although rents rose at a modest pace compared to nationally (1.5%), asking rents in the Miami Metro area rose faster than in Sunbelt markets like Orlando (-0.1%), Dallas (-0.5%), Houston (-0.6%), Charlotte (-0.8%), San Antonio (-1.7%), Phoenix (-1.7%), Tampa (-2.0%), Denver (-2.4%), and Austin (-4.1%).
Rental demand remains robust, underpinned by strong job growth, rising out-of-state migration, and a home affordability hurdle. Miami-Dade County posted the fastest job growth among the 10 largest counties as of 2025 Q2 at 1.9% with strong growth in financial activities (4.8%) and professional and business services (3.0% ), while jobs rose 0.5% nationally. Out-of-state migration is picking up. In 2025 driver license exchanges rose 12% in Miami-Dade and 6% in Broward County (See Domestic Migration to Miami-Dade, Broward Increases with New York Again as Top Feeder State – MIAMI REALTORS®).
Southeast Florida has the most intense construction activity in the nation with 36,290 units under construction
As of December 2025, Yardi Matrix reported 36,290 units under construction in 141 buildings with at least 50 units, adding 8.5% to the current stock. Miami-Dade County is undergoing the most intense construction activity among the largest 90 market areas, according to Cushman and Wakefield data as of 2025 Q4. Nationally, 469,374 units are under construction, adding 3.5% to the existing stock.
Half (18,212) are in the Miami Market Area, with the units adding 9.6% to the current inventory. Construction is concentrated in Downtown Miami, Edgewater, Overtown, Homestead, Doral, and Hialeah.
In the Fort Lauderdale Market Area, 10,668 units are under construction, adding 8.3% to the current inventory. Construction is focused in Fort Lauderdale-Central, Hollywood, and Davie.
In the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton Market Area, 4,367 units are under construction, adding 5.2% to current inventory. The bulk of construction activity is in West Palm Beach-North, Boynton Beach, and Delray Beach.
In the Port St. Lucie Market Area, 3,043 units are under construction, adding a whopping 13.5% to the current inventory. Construction is centered in Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie-West.
Big-name developers based in other states are developing several projects in Southeast Florida such as Namdar Group (NY), Naftali Group (NY), Oak Row Equities (NY), Hanover Company (TX), Hines Interests (TX), Morgan Group (TX), D.R. Horton (TX), Atlantic Residential (GA), Trammel Crow Residential (CO), and Avalon Bay Communities (VA). Among Florida-based companies, big-name developers include Melo Development, Terra Group, Related Group, Mill Creek Residential, and Integra Investments.
Completions outpaced absorption putting downward pressure on upper-tier rents
While construction activity remains intense, bringing highly amenitized units to the market, completions of Fully Affordable housing has subsided amid higher interest rates, rising constructions, and heightened economic uncertainty.
In the Miami Market Area (covers most cities of Miami-Dade County), asking rents for Workforce Lower tier rose 1.2% and asking rents for Workforce Upper tier rose 0.7%. However, asking rents for Low Mid-range rentals fell 1.6%, Upper Mid-range fell 2.5% and Discretionary housing fell 0.4%.
In the Fort Lauderdale Market Area (covers most cities of Broward County), asking rents rose for Workforce Lower tier rentals by 9.8%, Workforce Upper tier by 0.7%, and Low Mid-range rental housing by 0.8%. Asking rents fell for Upper Mid-range and Discretionary rental housing by 1.5%.
However, in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton Market Area, rents rose for Upper Mid-range rentals by 0.2% and Discretionary rentals by 1.4% . Rising rents in the upper tier rental market is indicative of a wealthier population moving into this area for retirement or job relocation in high-wage jobs in the professional and business services and financial activities industries.
