When the portfolio starts to get empty, it pressures the residents to look for “new airs” . Those Miamians who can no longer pay rent or buy a house in this paradise, choose to move to other states where they find subsidized housing, which allows them to become owners, or better prices. The city of Latinos, as Miami is known by some, is experiencing an exodus of residents, driven by its high prices.
Pedro Fournier lived in the Little Havana building for 12 years. One day, the owner told her that some inspectors would come. It was not like that, the reality is that they were buyers who wanted to sell the place and that could only mean one thing: an increase in rent. Fournier told the Nuevo Herald that he had to say goodbye to that one-bedroom apartment for which he paid $650. The building in which he lived was ideal for someone like him, who only had 700 dollars of monthly fixed income, which he supplemented with another job.
What he experienced is an authentic displacement motivated by the developers. The price of his house was affordable until it was called Little Havana and became West Brickell and they started building apartment towers.
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Fournier, 65, was living a real nightmare. He had lost his job, so he called a friend from Arizona and another from Nebraska and told them that he wanted to get out of Miami. In his second choice, he found an opportunity that changed his life. In just over a month, he received low-income housing, a larger apartment than the one he lived in, and now pays $223 a month. He processed his request from Miami and was immediately accepted. He moved just last May 10 and, in statements to the aforementioned medium, he was grateful.
“I pay 30 percent of my income and it covers all public services (…) From time to time, I have fits of joy, that I pinch myself. It’s cold here, but I don’t even feel it because it compensates so much with everything I have, ”he said.
In a similar situation is Keila Dominguez, a nurse who now has to pay $500 for the Townhouse she rents with her partner in Miami and is willing to leave the city to own it.
The median home price in Miami-Dade in April was $565,000.
As for the rent, the story is similar, it has risen 130% compared to last year, reaching more than 8,000 dollars, according to a study by Rent.com.
- A studio in Miami costs US$3,214
- A one-bedroom apartment for US$3,214
Now the one Fournier had in Little Havana is priced at $1,350.
Why are they leaving Miami?
According to Bank of America, 53 percent of people who want to buy a home plan to move out of Miami because of high prices. This same institution predicts that the costs of housing in the United States will end this year with an increase of 10 percent, which means that buyers will feel the impact on their pockets.
When a city in South Florida opens the possibility of entering a waiting list to apply for Plan 8 affordable housing, the lines are immense. Some residents will look for other cheaper destinations in other areas or outside the State. For all these reasons, buyers are in an exodus to cheaper options and other markets, such as central Florida or Nebraska. However, they represent only a part of the population. The city will continue to be one of the most popular destinations for those coming from out of state or from California. Just as Bank of America points out, for well-paid professionals and real estate investors.
