Atlanta Fed Studies Housing Affordability Crisis in South Florida

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta released a report on Friday examining the ongoing challenges of housing affordability in the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach metropolitan area. The analysis highlights the growing gap between local incomes and the actual costs of owning or renting a home in the region.

Authored by researchers Domonic Purviance, John Douglas, and Sarah Stein, the study doesn't focus on recent price hikes but rather evaluates the structural imbalance using two proprietary tools: the Home Ownership Affordability Monitor (HOAM, with data up to July 2026) and the Southeast Rental Affordability Tracker (SRAT, based on Census data from 2022 to 2024).

Home Buying Affordability Challenges

According to the HOAM, a household earning the area's median income of $85,483 annually would need to allocate roughly 60% of their income to purchase a median-priced home in the region, valued at $534,333.

This percentage is well above the 30% threshold that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers affordable, though this is merely a guideline rather than a legal or banking requirement.

Rental Market Struggles

The rental market offers little respite. The SRAT, analyzing 2024 Census data, reveals that nearly 60% of all renter households in the metro area spend more than 30% of their income on housing, surpassing the national average. Over 33% of these households face severe cost burdens, dedicating more than half of their income to rent.

These pressures are not evenly distributed. Among low-income renters—those earning around $74,000 or less annually for a family of four—81% spend more than a third of their income on rent.

Middle-income households, earning between $74,000 and $111,000 annually, also experience significant cost burdens, with 60% affected. Only 19% of high-income households face similar challenges.

Impact of Tenant Displacement

A particularly striking finding is the displacement of renters: 47% of high-income renter households are occupying homes affordable to lower-income brackets. This is due to limited availability in higher-priced segments, pushing them into lower-cost options and squeezing out those with lower incomes.

In 2024, the SRAT reported only 26 affordable and available units per 100 renter households with incomes at or below 50% of the area's median income.

Factors Fueling the Affordability Crisis

Several structural factors contribute to this affordability crisis. The area's population grew by 4.9% from 2020 to 2025, adding over 350,000 residents, compared to the national growth rate of 3.7% during the same period, according to estimates by Moody Analytics.

Additionally, unique Florida costs such as property insurance, real estate taxes, and homeowner association fees have collectively surged by 150% over the past decade in the area, although they have recently moderated, with the median estimated monthly cost falling from a peak of $4,310 in July 2025 to $3,980 in January 2026.

For further context, a September 2026 report from Zumper, which tracks active rental listings in Miami specifically, ranked Miami as the sixth most expensive U.S. city for renting, with a median rent of $2,500 per month for a one-bedroom apartment. This uses a different methodology and scope than the Atlanta Fed's analysis, making direct comparison of figures inappropriate.

The "America's Rental Housing 2026" report from Harvard University estimates that nearly half of all U.S. tenants—22.7 million households—were cost-burdened in 2024, with South Florida significantly exceeding that national average.