Miami-Dade taxable property values rise in double digits again

As evidence of Miami-Dade’s real estate strength, estimated taxable values of county properties rose by double digits again this year, the third consecutive year of 10% or more gains.

This year’s June 1 estimate of annual growth of taxable values was exactly 10%, following last year’s estimate of 12.3% and a 10.2% estimated rise in 2023.

Totals are likely to change when official figures are published July 1. Last year, for example, the final increase rose from the 12.3% estimate to 12.7%.

The totals are of more than academic interest: a 10% value increase means that if a local government holds tax rates the same from year to year, its property tax revenues will still rise 10%. Mayors and commissions then can trim rates and still see tax revenues shoot up.

This year’s total estimated taxable value for the county’s real estate is $468.6 billion, which includes $6.173 billion in new construction, a total well above past years. Like the cranes dotting our skyline, the value of new construction has been rising annually, from $5.265 billion in 2021 to $5.292 billion in 2022 and $5.889 billion in 2023.

The percentages of taxable value increases, like construction gains, vary widely from community to community.

For example, the taxable value of Sweetwater’s property held almost steady, a minuscule 0.5% rise in the values that Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia and his staff say Sweetwater’s existing properties are actually worth. Even with new construction, Sweetwater’s taxable values rose just 4.6%, lowest in the county.

On the other end of the scale, existing property values in El Portal rose an estimated 13.5%, the greatest increase in existing property values in the county. That was followed by 12.9% in exclusive Indian Creek as billionaires bid up home values and 12.5% in Normandy Shores.

When new construction is factored in, however, the list changes at the top. The highest percentage growth was in Florida City at the county’s southern tip, where overall values rose 17.6% on a wave of $1.25 billion in new construction. El Portal followed at a 15% overall value growth, with Normandy Shores third at 13.8%.

The county’s larger cities of course have larger tax bases by far as well as more residents. Miami, with $96.4 billion in taxable value, saw a 12% overall jump in values, of which existing properties rose 10% and more than $1.7 billion in new construction provided the rest.

Hialeah, the second-largest city by population, saw its taxable values soar 12.3%, including a 10.4% increase in values of existing properties and the balance from $321 million in new construction.

Miami Beach saw a below-average rise in overall taxable values of 8.8%, including an 8.3% rise in taxable values on existing properties.

Coral Gables had an overall 8.2% valuation increase, Doral 9%, Sunny Isles Beach 12.1%, Aventura 7.9%, Key Biscayne 7.2%, Pinecrest 11.4%, Surfside 12.1%, Homestead 10%, North Miami Beach 12.2% and North Miami 10.3%.

Miami-Dade’s largest “city” is none of these but its scattered unincorporated areas, where taxable values increased exactly at the same pace as the county as a whole, 10%. The county provides municipal services in these areas.

Unincorporated areas recorded the county’s largest single net value change, as taxable property values increased more than $11.3 billion. The smallest overall property value increases were $40 million in both Virginia Gardens and El Portal.