East Coast migration to Miami plummets as Floridas housing costs skyrocket

For decades, South Florida drew waves of retirees and working families from high-priced East Coast cities with the promise of cheaper living, but today that affordability advantage is gone.Soaring expenses have caught would-be movers’ attention, triggering a sharp drop in net migration across the Sunshine State.A June report from the Shimberg Center for Housing Studies at the University of Florida found that migration to Florida from other parts of the US shrank to 201,191 people at a rate of roughly 551 per day. That represents a dramatic pullback from the post-pandemic era peak in 2022, when the state attracted 598,737 new residents, averaging 1,640 per day. According to the report, high-cost Miami-Dade, anchored by the city of Miami, led the state in domestic outmigration, losing nearly 73,000 residents to other counties and states last year. New York City consistently ranks as Miami’s No.1 out-of-state domestic feeder metro, yet Florida’s glamorous “Magic City” has increasingly shifted from an affordable destination for everyday buyers into a playground for high earners.A new analysis of Realtor.com cross-market data reveals that home shoppers from New York City accounted for just 11% of nonlocal online traffic to Miami this fall, down roughly two-thirds from its 2023 peak.“They’re a victim of their own success,” Anthony Lamacchia, founder and CEO of Lamacchia Realty, tells Realtor.com, referring to Miami.For low- and middle-income movers from traditional Northeast wealth hubs like New York City and Boston looking to stretch their dollar, buy a larger home, or trim their budget, moving to Miami no longer makes financial sense.Lamacchia, whose company is headquartered outside Boston with additional offices across New England and South Florida, says that from 2016 to 2022, Miami was the top outgoing market for his relocation department.“Now, our No.

1 outgoing market is Central Florida, because people have been priced out of South Florida,”...