Street Economics

North Miami, Florida

HJR 1 Homestead-Exemption Tax-Base Exposure

Miami-Dade County . 2025 final assessment roll

Snapshot

The North Miami read

North Miami fits the Renter-Heavy archetype. A majority of the residential housing is not owner-occupied: 55% or more of units are rentals or second homes, and most of that non-owner stock is held by Floridians — in-state landlords and second-home owners — making this a local-ownership rental market rather than an absentee one. Owner-occupancy is a minority of the housing stock. At full $250,000 phase-in in 2028, HJR 1 exposure sits at 14.0%, with the 2027 step landing at 9.4%. Exposure runs lower than a homeowner town because the amendment only helps homestead owners and most units here are non-homestead; the insulation is real, but it reflects a community where most residents rent rather than own.

Of 22,886 residential housing units, 36.0% are owner-occupied, 6.8% are owned by out-of-state owners, and 57.2% are non-homestead but Florida-owned.

Among Florida cities, North Miami ranks 312 of 404 by HJR 1 exposure — meaning it is less exposed than most ranked cities in the state.

Land-use composition

Share of taxable value by category, North Miami, 2025 roll:

The industrial category carries a notably high out-of-state value share at 32.8%, even though only 8.1% of industrial parcels are out-of-state owned — a signal that a small number of higher-value industrial properties are held by out-of-state owners. Multifamily and commercial also show out-of-state value shares meaningfully above their parcel shares, worth watching as those categories grow.

What the exposure band means

Band: Low exposure. The base is already substantially non-homestead. The amendment is a manageable headwind. Focus on protecting the diversified base that provides the insulation.

Looking ahead

Neither of the following changes the exposure figure above; both shape how North Miami grows its base after the amendment takes effect.

First, beginning January 1, 2027, the annual assessment-increase cap on non-homestead property drops from 10% to 5%, covering commercial, industrial, and small residential rentals of nine units or fewer. Because capped values can only rise 5% a year, the main path to growing taxable value in these categories is transactions: a sale or change of control resets the property to market value. Transaction velocity matters more to non-homestead base growth than it did under the old 10% cap, and the tighter ceiling widens the gap between long-held properties and recently-sold ones faster than before.

Second, new Florida residents who did not maintain a Florida permanent residence as of December 31, 2026 phase into the larger exemption over five years rather than receiving it all at once. This cannot be read from the assessment roll, so all exposure figures here assume full application — meaning near-term exposure could run slightly lower than modeled in places with many recent arrivals still inside their five-year window.

Where the opportunity is

These recommendations are based solely on the tax roll’s land-use composition. They do not account for whether local land development regulations and zoning permit the use, whether there is local obstruction, or the political dynamics that usually decide what actually gets approved. This is a starting point for a conversation, not a development plan.

• Multifamily at 14.0% of total value is already a meaningful share of the base, and rental is non-homestead — the dominant tenure here. Supporting well-managed rental and missing-middle housing along existing corridors and in the commercial core adds taxable base without displacing residents. Deed-restricted rental that keeps units affordable while remaining on the tax roll is the kind of supply that serves both fiscal and community goals simultaneously.
• Commercial at 10.2% of value is a real but not dominant share. Growing commercial value along existing arterial corridors and in the commercial core is the clearest lever for deepening the non-homestead base beyond rental housing. Employment-generating uses — retail, office, and service commercial — add taxable value in a category the amendment does not touch and reduce the base’s dependence on residential tenure.
• Light industrial at 3.5% of value is a smaller slice, but the out-of-state value concentration (32.8% of industrial value is out-of-state owned) is worth noting. Directing new light-industrial and employment uses to existing industrial corridors and converting underutilized parcels in those areas grows a category that is fully non-homestead and not subject to the exemption at any phase.
• Where resident stability and ownership are goals, any push toward owner-occupied housing should be paired with anti-displacement measures. New owner-occupied homestead housing is the one category the amendment exempts, so it should be treated as a community-values decision, not a tax-base move.

Watch-out: North Miami is a renter-heavy city with mostly Florida landlords — this is a local rental market, not an absentee-ownership story. Do not describe it as outside-owned. A high rental share at modest values still usually signals an affordability and local-wealth issue, not a tax-base achievement. The low exposure number reflects the tenure structure of the community, and that structure deserves honest attention alongside the fiscal read.

Source and scope

All figures are computed from the Florida Department of Revenue 2025 final assessment roll, the most recent certified roll in the state’s possession. The roll is used as a structural proxy for North Miami’s tax-base composition, not as a dollar forecast for any specific budget year. HJR 1 / CS-HJR 1F is on the November 2026 ballot; the 2026 roll is the assessment roll in place when voters decide. If the amendment passes, the first roll affected is the 2027 roll (the $150,000 step), followed by the 2028 roll at full $250,000 phase-in. When the 2026 and later rolls are certified, the analysis re-runs on the new data.

Ownership shares are measured on a residential-unit basis. The out-of-state figure reflects units where the owner’s mailing-address state in the assessment roll is a non-Florida state or country; blank owner-state is treated as unknown, not out-of-state. This measure undercounts true outside ownership — an out-of-state owner using an in-state LLC mailing address counts as Florida-owned — and does not prove where an owner actually lives. It is the cleanest available proxy, not a definitive residency determination.

This read is a land-use-composition starting point. It is not a comprehensive fiscal, economic, or legal analysis, and it is not a substitute for a full plan.

Place: North Miami