Miami Beach’s Luxury High-Rise Buildings Are Sinking—but Wealthy Buyers Are Still Flocking There

More than 30 luxury high-rise buildings in Miami Beach, FL, are currently sinking into the ground, shocking new research has revealed—but that hasn’t stopped a swath of homebuyers and developers from investing in the area.

A study conducted by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science found that 35 upscale condo and hotel buildings in Sunny Isles Beach, Miami Beach, Surfside, and Bal Harbour sank by between 2 and 8 centimeters between 2016 and 2023.

Among the buildings affected are the uber-exclusive and expensive Faena House, Porsche Design Tower, and the Surf Club Tower.

The sinking is caused by a process known as subsidence, which leads to the gradual sinking and caving of land. Though subsidence is known to occur immediately after construction on a property has been completed, continued sinking is much more rare.

To measure the degree of subsidence, researchers used the interferometric synthetic aperture radar—a type of satellite—to examine shifts in the land between 2016 and 2023. They found that buildings in the affected areas saw shifts of up to 3 inches.

“The discovery of the extent of subsidence hotspots along the South Florida coastline was unexpected,” the study’s lead author, Farzaneh Aziz Zanjani, said in a statement. “The study underscores the need for ongoing monitoring and a deeper understanding of the long-term implications for these structures.”

However, his co-author Gregor Eberli insisted that the findings were not meant to raise alarm, but rather to better “quantify” the level of subsidence currently occurring in the region so that it can be managed.

“We didn’t want to alarm anybody, we just wanted to put out the fact that, yes, there is a bit of subsidence going on and we wanted to quantify that,” he told local news outlet NBC6.

Wealthy buyers continue to flock to the area

Despite the slow sinking, Florida’s coast continues to attract wealthy real estate buyers.

That’s likely, in part, because wealth attracts wealth. Southern Florida’s coast has some of the most expensive real estate in the country, and homes in the Miami Beach area regularly make the Realtor.com® weekly countdown of the most expensive listings in the country.

Plus, living in Florida comes with some choice perks.

“Warm weather and sunny beaches have made Florida a vacation and retirement destination for decades,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale has previously said. “For wealthy and higher-income households, a business-friendly climate and favorable tax environment that features no individual income tax likely add to the draw.

Right now, there are nearly a hundred homes in Miami Beach that are on the market for $10 million or more. At Porsche Design Club, there are currently 30 units available in the Porsche Design Tower, for example, ranging from $4.2 million to $14.95 million.

A number of high-profile celebrities have also chosen to put down roots in Miami Beach, including Jennifer Lopez and Cher.

Others, such as Jeff Bezos, Tom Brady, and Ivanka Trump, have chosen to purchase lavish properties on Indian Creek Island—dubbed “Billionaire Bunker” thanks to the extraordinary wealth of its residents—which is located alongside the affected area.

Southern Florida’s coastal catastrophes

The University of Miami researchers said they were interested in looking at subsidence in the area following the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in 2021, which killed 98 people. At the time, authorities noted that the building had experienced significant subsidence in the 1990s.

But critics of the University of Miami study say it’s unclear whether subsidence levels have much of an impact on building stability.

“I personally feel very, very comfortable with the structural integrity and the structural systems of the buildings that were mentioned in the report and how they were built,” Kobi Karp of Kobi Karp Architecture & Interior Design in Miami told NBC6.

Karp’s firm built several of the buildings mentioned in the study, including the Surf Club Towers and the Residence Inn by Marriott.

Buyers who aren’t swayed by the subsidence issues in Miami Beach and its surrounding towns should still consider how such structural instability might affect them, particularly their pocketbooks.

Thanks to climate change and a spate of natural disasters, Miami Beach–area homeowners are already seeing record-high insurance premiums—when they can get insurance at all. One homeowner on Star Island, off the coast of Miami Beach, told Bloomberg their annual insurance costs were over $600,000 last year.

“Insurance companies will be keen to find ways to dodge liabilities,” says James Wang, an engineer and the founder of real estate tech company REAi.

“A potential buyer should be very diligent to read through the whole document of an insurance policy before proceeding, to make sure that they are well-protected in various scenarios of worsening sinking causing more damage to the buildings,” he adds.

Wang recommends buyers examine a building’s history and look for structural assessments, certifications, and mitigation measures to address potential sinking.

“If the building isn’t able to provide that, prospective buyers should sense a big warning sign to possibly proceed ahead,” he adds.