Move over, Beverly Hills – Florida now claims the crown for America’s most expensive neighborhood.

According to Zillow, Gables Estates in Coral Gables tops the list of U.S. neighborhoods with the highest home values, edging out Beverly Hills. Once considered a West Coast stronghold of glamour and exclusivity, Beverly Hills now trails behind Miami’s gilded enclaves. In fact, seven of the top ten priciest neighborhoods in America are in Florida, from Naples to Jupiter to Miami Beach.

This shift isn’t just a headline about wealth migration — it’s reshaping Florida’s entire housing landscape, from Coral Gables to Jacksonville.

Florida’s Luxury Boom

Florida has been attracting ultra-high-net-worth buyers at unprecedented levels. Between 2017 and 2022, more than $14 billion in income moved into the state, much of it concentrated in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. By 2025, both Miami and West Palm Beach had surpassed New York City as the world’s fastest-growing wealth hubs.

South Florida’s “Wall Street South” reputation is drawing both domestic elites and international investors. These buyers aren’t just interested in a zip code — they want lifestyle: walkability, waterfront views, tax advantages, and security. Gables Estates, for example, requires a $100,000 non-refundable application fee just to join the neighborhood association.

But Florida’s luxury expansion isn’t confined to South Florida anymore. Developers who cut their teeth on multimillion-dollar gated communities are now setting their sights further north.

Luxury Expansion Reaches Northeast Florida

The model of master-planned, high-amenity developments is spreading. BTI Partners, a Fort Lauderdale-based developer, recently paid $93 million for 3,200 acres in Clay County, part of a 6,500-acre expansion west of U.S. 17. Their Laurelton community, underway since 2022, will feature housing, schools, trails, and parks — but it’s marketed as a lifestyle destination, not a solution to affordable housing shortages.

Northeast Florida is also seeing wealth remake its beaches. Take the teardown of a 1938 home at 1675 Beach Avenue in Atlantic Beach. Purchased in 1976 for just $8,800, the property was valued at $1.9 million in 2020. In October 2024, it sold for $4.7 million — the ninth most expensive sale in Duval County that year — only to be demolished for a still pricier build.

The trend is clear: even historic coastal homes are being bulldozed to make way for new, more expensive luxury properties.

The Affordability Squeeze

While the top end of Florida’s market surges, everyday Floridians face a worsening affordability crisis.

• Foreign investment: Florida accounts for 21% of all international home purchases in the U.S., far outpacing California. In Miami, nearly half of new construction sales in the past 18 months went to international buyers, mostly from Latin America. Many paid cash, outbidding local families reliant on mortgages.

• Regulatory fallout: After the 2021 Surfside condo collapse, new rules now require aging condos to hold fully funded reserves and undergo regular inspections. These reforms are critical for safety, but they’ve sent condo fees soaring, pushing middle-class residents out and fueling the appeal of high-end new construction instead.

• Supply and construction costs: Labor shortages, high materials costs, and limited post-2008 construction mean supply lags behind demand. Developers naturally chase higher returns from luxury units instead of workforce housing.

Jacksonville as a Case Study

Jacksonville shows how local policy decisions intensify these pressures.

Mayor Donna Deegan pushed for $7 million in affordable housing programs — including downpayment assistance and eviction diversion — but City Council gutted the funding. Instead, it approved a $13.4 million property tax cutthat saves the average homeowner just over $1 per month.

Council Finance Chair Raul Arias justified the cuts by arguing targeted housing programs only help “a lucky few.” Critics counter that symbolic tax relief does little to address affordability while abandoning meaningful tools that could help families.

The politics are as striking as the math. Councilman Rory Diamond, for example, like a robber baron of the Guilded Age collected hundreds of thousands in pay for “no hours worked” as a former nonprofit executive at K9s for Warriors, according to 2023 filings — a stark contrast to lecturing working families about “living within their means.” Let them eat cake he might say or move to make way for the well-healed from outside the state and country.

The Bigger Picture: A System Designed for Wealth

Florida’s affordability crisis is no accident. It’s the product of global demand, regulatory shifts favoring new builds, and political choices prioritizing tax cuts and incentives over affordable housing investment.

The result?

• The annual income needed to afford a median U.S. home hit $126,670 in 2024 — a 60% jump in three years.

• Florida property taxes are up nearly 50% since 2019.

• First-time buyers are older than ever, with record-low market participation.

• In most Florida cities, renting is now significantly cheaper than buying.

Without bold interventions — large-scale affordable housing development, creative financing tools, and political will to prioritize residents over speculative capital — Florida risks cementing itself as a playground for the wealthy and an affordability desert for locals.

Conclusion

From Coral Gables to Atlantic Beach, Florida’s housing market is bifurcating: luxury living for the few, instability for the many. The state’s rise as the new capital of global wealth may look glamorous in Zillow rankings, but it leaves ordinary Floridians asking the same question: Will we ever be able to afford a piece of the Sunshine State dream or keep it once we do?