Interest in relocating to Miami has tripled since last year and now ranks higher than any other destination in the U.S., according to a new report from real estate website Redfin.com, based on a sample of about 2 million users who searched for homes across 112 metro areas.

It is the first time ever that Miami topped Redfin’s monthly rankings, which measures net inflow from other metro areas. However, Miami has been consistently in the top 10 since the list was created in 2017.

An Interest confirmed by the huge increase in demand from newcomers that led to massive rent hikes, up as much as 24% in some areas.

But why move to South Florida to overpay the rent? It must be said that a good part of these newcomers is still working remotely and local rents are cheap compared with what they are used to shelling out in New York or California.

Bad news indeed for the locals, squeezed out from the market from their newcomer counterparts. The median annual income for a single earner in Florida is $52,534, below New York’s $59,956 and California’s $62,171.

Rental demand is also driven in part by residents who are priced out of homebuying. The median home price in the region reached $500,000 in June, a nearly 30% jump year-over-year.

(source: therealdeal.com, thenextmiami.com)