A flood of rich New Yorkers spooked by Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory is reportedly set to migrate south — as Miami realtors report a 166% spike in inquiries about multi-million-dollar properties in one of the most in-demand enclaves of South Beach.
Real estate agents who are showcasing waterfront condos along Miami’s “Billionaire’s Beach” — which stretches from 14th Street to 21st Street along Collins Avenue — say they stand to benefit from the “Mamdani effect.”
“The second that the word on the street was that Mamdani was going to be elected we started getting phone calls,” Pietro Belmonte, executive vice-president at Douglas Elliman, told the US Guardian.
Douglas Elliman is the marketing agent for Ritz-Carlton Residences on Miami Beach, where single-bedroom apartments spanning 1,200 square feet start at around $8.6 million per unit.
Meanwhile, three, four and five bedrooms on the higher floors range from $10.5 million to $22 million and above while the twin penthouses with rooftop private pools can be had for between $55 million and $69 million.
Belmonte and other realtors described the so-called “Mamdani effect” — the sudden and “exponential” increase in the number of inquiries and sales of high-end properties to New Yorkers flush with cash and eager to flee the Big Apple before the democratic socialist takes office on Jan. 1.
According to Belmonte’s firm, there has been a 166% surge in interest from prospective buyers in New York eager to snap up one of the beachside condo residences at Ritz-Carlton Residences.
Michael Patrizio is managing director of Mast Capital, the developer behind the Perigon, an under-construction cluster of 73 high-end residences.
“Activity at Perigon right now from the ultra, ultra high net worths is really staggering,” Patrizio told US Guardian.
According to Patrizio, Mast is betting that an influx of New Yorkers will snap up offerings at Perigon, which start at $12.5 million for a two-bedroom unit, and can top out at $70 million for four-bedroom condos on some of the higher floors.
“New York has always been a primary market for south Florida, particularly Miami, Miami Beach, and it feels like a lot of New Yorkers somehow tend to have ties to Miami in some fashion,” Patrizio told US Guardian.
Patrizio’s firm is also marketing as-yet-to-be-inhabited apartments at the Cipriani building, the planned 80-story, 400-condominium structure that will become the tallest building in Miami.
Patrizio told US Guardian that well-heeled New Yorkers are expressing interest in properties there, where the cheapest offering — a one-bedroom — goes for just under $2 million.
“Inquiries have increased exponentially,” he said.
“The day after [Mamdani] won the primary, we had a New York buyer who was kind of on the fence and decided to move forward, same thing the week of the election, one on the fence moved forward. Those are kind of direct deals that happened … It was the election, I can say that with certainty.”
Mamdani has proposed raising New York City’s top income-tax rate on earners making more than $1 million from 3.9% to 5.9%, which would give the city and state a combined top rate of nearly 17% — the highest in the country.
He also wants to increase the city’s corporate tax to 11.5%, roughly double the current range of 4.875% to 7.25%.
The changes would primarily affect about 34,000 high-income households and large corporations headquartered in the city.
Another exodus of wealthy New Yorkers — a large number of whom left the city during the pandemic — could have devastating consequences.
New York’s highest earners already shoulder a significant share of the city’s tax burden, with the top 1% accounting for as much as 48% of all personal income tax revenue.
The group contributed an estimated $34 billion in combined state and city income taxes in 2022.
New York City’s share of the nation’s millionaires has also fallen from 6.5% in 2010 to 4.2% in 2022 — a shift that analysts say cost the city roughly $2.5 billion in foregone income-tax revenue last year alone.
IRS and Census data show that New York-to-Florida migration has been underway for years, well before Mamdani’s election.
More than 72,000 New Yorkers moved to Florida in 2023, and nearly $9.5 billion in household income flowed from New York to Southeast Florida in 2021.
Manhattan, Nassau, Suffolk, Brooklyn and Queens are among the top counties sending residents south, according to federal data.
The Post has sought comment from Mamdani.
