Miami Top Luxury Real Estate Market in the US

Miami has been named as the top luxury real estate market in the US, bucking the recent downward trend of US real estate.

According to the Knight Frank Wealth Report, Miami takes the title of fastest growing luxury real estate market in the US, and fifth fastest growing luxury real estate market in the world after Madrid, Berlin, Paris and Cape Town.

The Miami luxury real estate market, which includes both new and existing construction properties, has experienced record sale activity in the last few years. Strong sales have been witnessed and recorded in some neighbourhoods and price points.

Tax refugees from cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles have shown a keen interest due to no income tax imposition in Miami as compared to a high-income tax of 13.3 per cent in other states.

Over the past few years, it has been observed that high-earning professionals, tech moguls, and Wall Street hedge-fund managers acquire luxury homes in Miami as their primary residence to escape the effect of the federal tax reform law that was implemented in 2018 and to benefit from the lower-tax policies of the Florida state.

This has shifted the demand from other high-end property markets elsewhere in the US to that of Florida. These buyers have hence actively contributed to this increased demand and sales in Miami’s luxury real estate market.

Consequently, the prices of luxury condos and single-family property have also increased in value. The first quarter of the 2019 Douglas Elliman report reveals that the median price of luxury single-family homes soared 61 per cent year-over-year to $10.1 million while that of luxury condos climbed 12.7 per cent to $3.23 million.

Despite the increase in prices of luxury real estate in Miami along with its popularity and demand, the market still attracts potential buyers from not just within the US but also from foreign countries. For overseas property investors too, Miami is among the top US destinations, according to Realtor.com and Trulia.com.