What makes Miami SO EXPENSIVE? (Coral Gables: sales, real estate, apartments)

[Marina1686]

I always wondered why Miami is sooooooo expensive. This city is extremely inflated in every single area, but salaries are one of the lowest in the nation, if not the lowest. I'm not an economist, but I understand the basics of supply and demand and honestly everything in Miami has been manipulated. We Miamians are forced to pay a premium for everything and we end up in debt. There are few rich and lots of poor individuals. Obviously poor ca't afford a property in Miami. Really, what makes this city so expensive besides being a major attraction for tourists? A tourism based economy equals poverty, this doesn't make any sense to inflate cost of living. Jobs almost don't exist here, most are part time minimum wage jobs that don't even put food on the table. In addition, getting hired for those jobs is a mission due to the hundreds of applicants who are willing to work for peanuts. Being skilled or non skilled is the same in Miami, you just need your "compadre" to get the position, this is BS. Rents?? Are a joke, even the ghetto is expensive, and the decent areas are near NYC pricing. NYC has a great reason for being so expensive, IT'S THE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, but Miami? Really this is just a tourist party town with no culture full of starving immigrant and low class people.

Any good reason whyMiami is sooooo overpriced compared to the rest of the state and the nation in general?

[perry335654]

You need to read new threads more carefully as this topic has been or in the process of being discussed.


https://www.city-data.com/forum/25833944-post1.html

[Marina1686]

Re-read the post title

I'm asking what are the factors to make a city with a messed-up economy lacking real jobs SOOO expensive...

[perry335654]

Originally Posted by Marina1686

I always wondered why Miami is sooooooo expensive. This city is extremely inflated in every single area, but salaries are one of the lowest in the nation, if not the lowest. I'm not an economist, but I understand the basics of supply and demand and honestly everything in Miami has been manipulated. We Miamians are forced to pay a premium for everything and we end up in debt. There are few rich and lots of poor individuals. Obviously poor ca't afford a property in Miami. Really, what makes this city so expensive besides being a major attraction for tourists? A tourism based economy equals poverty, this doesn't make any sense to inflate cost of living. Jobs almost don't exist here, most are part time minimum wage jobs that don't even put food on the table. In addition, getting hired for those jobs is a mission due to the hundreds of applicants who are willing to work for peanuts. Being skilled or non skilled is the same in Miami, you just need your "compadre" to get the position, this is BS. Rents?? Are a joke, even the ghetto is expensive, and the decent areas are near NYC pricing. NYC has a great reason for being so expensive, IT'S THE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, but Miami? Really this is just a tourist party town with no culture full of starving immigrant and low class people.

Any good reason whyMiami is sooooo overpriced compared to the rest of the state and the nation in general?

This is plainly just an ignorant statement. You are right though, you definitely are not an economist.

[Marina1686]

Originally Posted by perry335654

This is plainly just an ignorant statement. You are right though, you definitely are not an economist.

You obviously are not part of the majority of an ordinarian Miamian who got hit by the recession and general greed. Put yourself in other people's shoes and be real. Miami's paradise is just a part of SoBe and the rich areas of Brickell, The Grove and Coral Gables. Most families in Miami live with under $30K working low-wage part time jobs, both skilled and unskilled.

[FlyMIA]

There are plenty of cities more expensive than Miami. Miami real estate is expensive because there is very little land left to build on. Basically zero. There is right now a high demand for apartments too. And your statement about no culture and Miami just being a party town shows you know absolutely nothing about this city anyway so why do you care?

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by perry335654

This is plainly just an ignorant statement. You are right though, you definitely are not an economist.

I have a degree in economics and currently completing a MBA, since you want to knock people's credentials. Are you a economist? There was no need to be read to her/him. What that person said is right on the money. Miami's main industry is tourism, followed by import/export link

You can find this information on the Miami.gov website:

Since that time communities have been rebuilt and today tourism and transportation continue to be the major local industries.

link

She is also right in that the cost of living here (read this link) is absurd given that Miami's jobs generally do not pay that well and they are not that plentiful. Also, Miami has one of the highest gaps between the wealthy and those barely making it. The cost of living in Miami is on par with NYC, yet you get paid more in NYC and NYC has a heck of a lot more to offer in terms of culture, night life, mass transit etc.

But on the flip side of that, home prices are falling and rents are coming down. As they should, since these prices were and still are, unsustainable.

Now, I know some people think homes are selling like hot cakes, but I am here to tell you, its a lie. The realtors association has been counting single sales four and five times over to inflate the numbers. So for example, if a condo unit sales in April, the Realtor's association will count it four or five times. You do that enough times, you get really inflated numbers.

Here is one article that talks about the double dipping link

Now, don't get me wrong. Minus the weather (which I hate with a passion), I like Miami. I think its vibrant, has a lot to offer (in some regards) and it has a lot of potential. But I also don't have my head in the dirt. This place has a lot it needs to sort out, if it is to transition from being "cool" to being "world class".

[perry335654]

Originally Posted by FlyMIA

There are plenty of cities more expensive than Miami. Miami real estate is expensive because there is very little land left to build on. Basically zero. There is right now a high demand for apartments too. And your statement about no culture and Miami just being a party town shows you know absolutely nothing about this city anyway so why do you care?

Amen to this, Miami is the youngest big city in the US that is going through major growing pains but for someone to say there is no culture here and blanket it as a party town is ludicrous.

[LookinForMayberry]

Originally Posted by Marina1686

I always wondered why Miami is sooooooo expensive. Any good reason whyMiami is sooooo overpriced compared to the rest of the state and the nation in general?

Same reason every overpriced area is overpriced. Lots of people with lots of money like it there and are happy to contribute to inflation to keep out the "riffraff."

[bale002]

As mentioned, several recent posts on this or related topics, I have answered a few, one worth repeating here ...

Miami is a center for private banking (wealth management for northeasterners and Latin Americans), Edge Act Banks (foreign banks that hold non-resident deposits, I believe) and international trade banks, not to mention real estate finance, and some banks do a combination of all the above.

If anything, the Miami foreign-related banking industry has shrunk, or at least stopped growing, over the past ten years or so due to the so-called Patriot Act, in favor of Europe and the Caribbean, I believe.

Miami-Dade is the eighth largest county in the US, the State of Florida, of which Miami-Dade is the leading county, is tied with New York for the number three slot in the number of electoral votes, behind California and Texas, I believe.

True, Miami-Dade has little manufacturing industry, but it is significant in wealth management, domestic and international trade and transport, real estate, health care, tourism, and all services and jobs that revolve around those things, including banking and insurance.

In short, since the late 1890s/1920s people from the north have brought capital here because of year-round warm temperatures, and since around the 1950s people from the south have brought capital here seeking a safer political environment, and they all transport in and insure all the trappings and conveniences of modern industrial life, hiring penniless, ignorant schleps to serve them.

That's the way I see it anyway.

Good Luck!

Just a few more notes ... While tourism may be a major sector of the Miami economy, I would not exaggerate its importance. I don't have statistics at hand but, depending on how you measure it, I doubt that tourism accounts for more than 10% of Miami's economy, it's not like it's some Caribbean former sugar island.

Same reason every overpriced area is overpriced. Lots of people with lots of money like it there and are happy to contribute to inflation to keep out the "riffraff."

To be competitive in Miami, you need to have a large amount of capital to start with and/or some very good contacts and/or very, very competitive skills in transport, domestic and international trade, real estate, banking, insurance, law, health care, media, entertainment, sports.

C'mon, there is lots to do here, but you need capital, contacts, and skills. But isn't that the case almost everywhere else?

Miami real estate is expensive because there is very little land left to build on. Basically zero. There is right now a high demand for apartments too.

I agree that there is still a dearth of well designed, adequately sized, high quality apartments in the better neighborhoods.

In that respect, Miami is a bit like Moscow or some African cities which, on some international cost rankings that I have seen, score some of the highest costs of living, largely because of the scarcity of quality amenities, the relatively few of which the rich and powerful bid up.

The OP could always go to Texas.

Good Luck!