Is the “American Dream” hurting the Real Estate market in Miami?



The “American Dream” could differ depending on who you ask, but firmly on top of most lists there are two that out rank the rest.

Home ownership is probably number one, closely followed by “being your own boss”, this entrepreneurial desire affects the home ownership more forcefully than we can imagine.

Why is being your own boss so entrenched?

The promise of unlimited earnings and progress in a short time motivates and attracts the potential new entrepreneurs. 

But another reason as powerful is that a great number are not new to the labor market. Many have years of experience, training and in a lot of cases college degrees, but, they don’t speak enough English to be hired in the regular job market for opportunities with higher wages to match their skills.   

There is one exception, the Real Estate industry is probably the only profession that allows to train and take the State Licensing exam and obtain the license all in Spanish.

The make up of the Miami population has changed drastically in the past 20 years. When I arrived in There is one experience that comes to mind and to show the contrast of Miami in the 6os and now, there were stores that had prominent notices that read "Se Habla Español"


It is very possible for an individual to raise a family for years without the need of speaking English, compounds the cycle.

Having laid the ground of what feeds the entrepreneurial desires of the people in Miami, let's talk about how it might influence the market economy of the area.

It is well known that qualifying for a home mortgage is harder than in the past. Tax returns are used to quantify income and for those who derive income from entrepreneurial work is even tougher.

Let’s look at the single- family homes. in Miami-Dade, single-family home sales were down 13.5 % to 1,104 however the median sales price increased 8.1 % to $348,000. Cash deals dropped 29.1 %, probably representing less activity from foreign buyers and investors. Active listings increased 2.5 percent, the inventory at the current sales rate was up to 6.2 months. It’s the absence of affordable inventory that slowed sales. Of the 6,517 homes listed, only 959 were priced below $300,000.

The entry home price has outpaced the wages, leaving out of the market lots of first time buyers. Not only the self-employed but also wage earners.

There are number of  questions that come to mind.

Does the large number entrepreneurs in Miami, create a grey economy?

Does it affect the wage level?

What do you think, I love to have your comments and input.

Guillermo Sanjurjo, Realtor®







My gratitude to  Brian Bandell – Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal who’s reporting I used to craft this message


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