South Florida by the numbers: Dollars in Motion (Part II)

South Florida by the Numbers" is a web feature that highlights the most notable, quirky, and surprising real estate statistics.

In 2021, this feature observed a remarkable trend of private equity players, capital investors, and professionals from other finance-related industries relocating to South Florida from high-tax states. While some speculated that this was a temporary consequence of the pandemic, we noted that "there is an air of permanence to these purchases, which continue 12 months of extraordinary action in the region’s luxury sector."

Three years later, not only have these trends persisted, but in many sectors, the momentum has grown even stronger. Although other parts of the Sunshine State may have seen faster population growth, South Florida remains the top choice for affluent newcomers. In this edition of "South Florida by the Numbers," we explore the ongoing influx of wealth into the region.

6
Percentage of Canadians among all foreign residential buyers in South Florida in 2023, spending a median of $437,700. Yet, local agents have reported Canadian buyers recently have much bigger budgets than in years past, and they expect a wave of them to pour into the market in the coming years.

$907,013
Average adjusted gross income for high-earning households moving to Florida from 2021 to 2022, topping the nation and about $280,000 more than the next closest state. Florida also had the highest net inflow of high-earning households, with 29,771 (the next-closest state was Texas with 8,260). [CNBC]

249,064
Net positive migration of people who moved to Florida in 2022, the highest number in the country for that year (followed by Texas, North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia). A total of 738,969  people moved to Florida that same year, including 91,201 former New Yorkers, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. [USAToday]

$39 billion
Amount of new wealth and income added in Palm Beach since the end of the pandemic, placing that county at No. 1 in the nation among 3,000 counties. The rapid proliferation of all that wealth is dramatically reshaping the county’s skylines, home values, dining offerings, private school options, etc. — a boon to some, and a setback to others. [PalmBeachPost]

18
Number of Fort Lauderdale homes currently listed for more than $17 million — the price of the most expensive home ever sold in that city prior to the pandemic. The dramatic migration of uber wealth to Miami and Palm Beach have shifted the “merely” wealthy to suburban areas like Palm Beach Gardens and Boca Raton — and to overlooked cities like Fort Lauderdale. [Bloomberg]