A return is planned for New Yorkers who worked remotely from Florida during the pandemic and who are now being forced by their companies to work face-to-face or semi-face-to-face.
A study carried out by three American universities forecasts for 2023 a decrease in housing rental prices in Miami and other areas of Florida and at the same time an increase in New York as a result of the return home of the “covid-19 refugees”.
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University, The University of Alabama, and Florida Gulf Coast University participating in this study estimate that rents in the New York metropolitan area they will increase by around 21% in June 2023.
The main cause is the expected return of New Yorkers who worked remotely from Florida during the pandemic and who are now being forced by their companies to work in the office.
They and other COVID-19 “refugees” who moved to the “sunshine state” are largely credited with driving up Florida real estate rents considerably.
According to an article published this Monday on the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) website, the metropolitan areas of Fort Myers (southwest Florida) and Miami (southeast) are once once more classified as the two most overvalued rental markets in the country.
Renters this June paid 29% more than in June 2021, according to figures from the Waller Weeks and Johnson Rental Index.
In fact, in the list of the 109 overvalued markets in the US, the top eight are in Florida and had year-over-year rent increases of more than 21%, says FAU.
Under normal conditions, rents traditionally rise only 3-5% a year.
Research from the three universities indicates that steep rent increases in the eight overpriced Florida markets “are on track to taper off sharply next year, at the same time rents rise in the New York metro area.”
Ken H. Johnson, an economist at FAU’s College of Business, says that “those refugees from covid-19 imposed a significant burden on the demand for rental units in Floridaand rents shot up to all-time highs, while New York got a little more affordable.”
With those workers coming home, Florida should see a cooling in its rent increases, and New York renters will once once more have to deal with much higher rates.
The researchers used rental data from the Zillow rental index to determine existing rentals and statistically model historical trends.