Miami

Fifty-six square miles containing several distinct housing markets, and the highest municipal levy of any city in this guide

The City of Miami covers roughly 56 square miles and contains housing markets that have almost nothing to do with one another. Brickell is a dense high-rise market. Coconut Grove is largely single-family with a waterfront edge. Edgewater and the Design District have been rebuilt substantially in the last fifteen years. Little Havana is older, smaller-lot housing.

Any statement about "the Miami market" that does not name a neighborhood is either wrong or too general to act on. This page is a frame for comparing across the city rather than a description of it, and the practical guidance below applies at the neighborhood level.

Note also that "Miami" in a listing search often means the mailing address, not the municipality. Large unincorporated areas carry Miami addresses while falling under a different millage code entirely.

What is actually here

The city's inventory spans pre-war single-family housing, mid-century apartment stock, 1970s and 1980s condominium towers, and current new construction. Condominium product concentrates east of I-95 and along the Miami River and Biscayne Bay. Single-family concentrates in Coconut Grove, the Roads, Morningside, Shenandoah, and the western neighborhoods.

Building era is the practical dividing line for condominium purchases here, for the reasons set out below.

2025 adopted millage

Includes 0.2536 debt service. The City of Miami operates its own fire department, so there is no separate county Fire and Rescue levy on this bill.

Miami carries the highest municipal levy in this guide at 7.3616 mills including debt service, against Aventura's 1.7261. That comparison misleads if read in isolation. Miami operates its own fire department out of the general levy, so there is no separate county Fire and Rescue line on a Miami bill, while Aventura pays 2.3965 mills to Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue.

The meaningful figure is the total: 19.9878 for Miami against 16.7488 for Aventura. On a $650,000 homesteaded property that gap is roughly $2,000 a year.

Millage code 0100. Source: Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser, 2025 adopted rates. Figures exclude non-ad valorem assessments, which are billed separately. Rates for the current tax year are adopted each September.

What determines the cost of ownership here

For condominium purchases, Fla. Stat. 553.899 requires a structural milestone inspection for buildings three stories or more at 30 years, and at 25 years if within three miles of the coastline. A significant share of the city's eastern condominium inventory falls in the earlier band. Fla. Stat. 718.112(2)(g) requires a Structural Integrity Reserve Study and reserve funding for the components it identifies.

A building that has completed both and is funding accordingly has predictable costs. One that has completed the study without funding it has a special assessment ahead that will not appear in the monthly figure quoted on the listing.

For single-family purchases, permit history and roof age drive insurability more than anything else in the listing.

What I would check in Miami

• 01The exact millage code for the parcel, since Downtown Development Authority parcels carry an additional 0.3900 mills
• 02Whether the address is inside city limits or in unincorporated Miami-Dade with a Miami mailing address
• 03Milestone inspection status and the report itself, not a summary, for any condominium three stories or more
• 04Whether the Structural Integrity Reserve Study is complete and whether reserves are funded to it
• 05Any special assessment voted, pending, or under discussion
• 06Permit history and open permits through Miami-Dade and city records
• 07Roof age and wind mitigation, which drive insurability and premium
• 08Flood zone determination and elevation certificate where applicable

Miami questions

Run the numbers on a specific Miami address.

Millage code, assessed value, association assessments, and insurance exposure vary parcel to parcel. I will pull the actual figures for the property you are considering.

Selling in Miami? Pricing, net sheet, and marketing are covered under seller marketing.