Miami among top 10 metros for real estate development

With real estate development surging across America, StorageCafe conducted a study on construction in the 50 largest metros — and among them, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach ranks ninth for growth. The industry blog analyzed construction in U.S. cities across six sectors (single-family, multifamily, office, industrial, retail and self-storage) over the last decade to determine the list.

In Miami, expansion was powered by the residential sector, especially in multifamily construction. Permits for nearly 130,000 apartments were issued in the past decade, compared to just 68,000 permits for houses. That type of demand is in line with Miami’s tourism-based economy and a steady influx of snowbird retirees.

The Miami metro area also saw heavy retail construction, with 24 million square feet added during the last 10 years. Additionally, more than 15 million square feet of office space and nearly 59 million square feet of industrial space was added.

Commenting on the findings in the study, Jacob Sagi, a real estate scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that anticipation of demand is driving development. “This is highly correlated with job growth and demographic shifts. In the last few years, we’ve seen both favoring the Sunbelt,” he said. “This is thought to be largely driven by a lower cost of living, lower taxes, lower regulatory constraints on development and the increasing high-skill labor pool in certain Sunbelt [metropolitan areas].”

The full list, as determined by StorageCafe, is as follows:

1. Dallas

2. Houston

3. New York City

4. Phoenix

5. Atlanta

6. Los Angeles

7. Washington, D.C.

8. Chicago

9. Miami

10. Denver

11. Austin

12. Seattle

13. Charlotte