NYC election anxiety drives New York buyers to Florida real estate market | Fox Business
By: Fox Business
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
NYC election anxiety spurs $100M+ for Florida developer from 'nervous' New Yorkers
BH Group CEO Isaac Toledano speaks to Fox News Digital about how the New York City mayoral election has 'accelerated' New Yorkers' decisions to move to the Sunshine State.
Election anxiety in New York City has turned into a real estate windfall in South Florida.
Developer Isaac Toledano, CEO of Miami-based BH Group, told Fox News Digital that his company has closed more than $100 million in signed contracts from New York buyers in just the past few months - about twice last year's volume.
"I think the election accelerated how people make decisions," Toledano said. "I think people are nervous [for] what's coming, how it's going to affect their lifestyle, the quality of life, taxes, potential of crime [or] no crime."
"This unknown in what's coming, and the fact that Mamdani said loud and clear what he's going to do and what he believes is the right thing for New York, make[s] a lot of people very nervous," he continued.
Toledano noted that the sales surge his real estate firm has seen is not surprising, but the figure is "higher than expected." The CEO also reports that the New York buyers migrating south are "becoming very aggressive" with their decision-making.
One Miami-based developer has closed more than $100 million in real estate deals in the months leading up to New York City's mayoral election.
"The good news is that a lot of the buyers in this market [are] coming wealthier, stronger financially. A lot of people made a lot of money in the last five, six years in the stock market, crypto, online businesses. So people are coming to Florida when their pockets are full and bank accounts, and their stock portfolio is doing really good."
Earlier this year, Henley & Partners' World's Wealthiest Cities Report for 2025 found that both West Palm Beach and Miami surpassed New York City as the world's fastest-growing wealth hubs. West Palm saw a 112% increase in millionaire growth over the last decade, while Miami saw a 94% increase. New York fell much shorter, around 40%.
A more recent analysis by The Times reported that independent estimates around Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's overall platform may cost New York City's economy $10 billion annually.
Fox News contributor Paul Mauro, The Federalist elections correspondent Brianna Lyman and Fat Camp Films CEO Zach Sage Fox discuss the stakes of New York City's mayoral race on 'The Bottom Line.'
Mamdani's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Mamdani has pitched a sweeping agenda aimed at reshaping New York City's economy and social contract. Among his boldest promises are instituting free city buses, building 200,000 new affordable housing units over 10 years, raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, expanding universal child care, creating city-run grocery stores and imposing significant tax increases on corporations and the top 1% of earners, according to his website.
Uncertainty over the mayoral election results, Toledano says, has created a rush to Florida's luxury market — one he doesn't see slowing down.
"We saw a few articles with thousands of police officers saying they're going to quit or resign," Toledano said. "The fact that people have to deal with this stress daily for them, for their kids, for their families, puts them in a position that they need to make a decision. It's not a secret that for the last 20 years, a lot of New Yorkers [are] moving to Florida, buying their homes, second homes, come to Florida for vacations. And I think that what we saw in the last five, six years, it will grow and will get stronger and this positive momentum will continue.
"We're definitely ready," Toledano continued. "If this thing is going to happen and we're going to see this big wave of New Yorkers and companies relocating, across our portfolio we have a lot of branded residences, luxury condos, mixed-use projects … We welcome our friends and investors and buyers from New York to come to Florida."
The developer emphasized safety and freedom as Florida's strongest draw and a clear contrast to northern cities.
"We offer stability, the freedom to grow," he said, "the fact that you can walk at night with expensive watch on your hand, driving an expensive car, go to a restaurant, walk on the street, have a coffee at 11 o'clock at night and nobody will disturb you … The law is very strong here … people feel safe."
Real estate momentum 'is about to change big time': BH Group's Isaac Toledano
BH Group CEO and founder Isaac Toledano speaks to Fox News Digital about how Donald Trump's 2024 election victory will fuel positive activity in real estate.
As New York buyers represent a new kind of investor - decisive, liquid and ready to move - Toledano isn't just betting on political tides, but Florida's long-term evolution.
"At the end of the day, we welcome everybody, regardless if they are from New York or any other part of the world," he said. "Florida is a great place. It's a great place for your families, for your businesses, for your future."
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I'm really surprised nobody saw this coming. (s)
They'll find lots of homes available, because Canadians are leaving in droves.
Good riddance.
Another reason why.
no one has noticed if they have,
LINK -> ‘Very disturbing’: Canadians flee Florida, worrying business owners | WFLA
Floridas population is booming, if every single one of the 60,000 Canadians with residential ties left it would be a rounding error.
I replied to your comment that nobody noticed, your reply to me was irrelevant.
I can’t wait to hear their moaning about the cost to ensure their hasty investment.
I'm sure they will really feel the pinch after they are no longer paying 10% in state income tax.
If they have actual jobs and financially need to work, they will have to settle for average salaries rather than NYC above average salaries. If they’re lucky overall it will be a wash. If they are unlucky their rash investment may become a victim of the next hurricane.
Let us know when Fox News leaves New York...
I have never understood why the top 1% in income complain about taxes so much. Even after taxes they live a great lifestyle most people can barely dream of.
How Much Income Puts You in the One Percent
I was just sitting her debating whether to do the math in my head or use my calculator. I used the calculator. I was thinking that being taxed at 10% might be a bit steep but it's not. At 10%, you would still have over 700,000 dollars. I can live on that.
You haven't paid federal income tax yet.
Granted, you still have a nice income, but your overall tax burden is going to be well over 50%. It's your single biggest expense, by a long margin. You're going to do whatever is reasonable to reduce it.
Don't be silly. Billionaires dont pay half. Companies move middle managers to district offices in Columbus or Dallas. No way top executives live in those pitts...
When oligarchs can double their pay each year paying more isn't how you imagine!
Do you have some sort of copyright?
We're not talking about billionaires. I realize not everyone is good at math, but a person making $800k/yr is not likely a billionaire.
They're not moving them to Dallas. They're moving them to just outside Dallas. Abundant housing, better schools, low taxes, very low crime... you get the idea. Most people aren't political ideologues, so they actually like those things.
You go right ahead and believe that. Don't let the 150 or so prominent CEOs dissuade you in any way.
Riiiight. Well.... most people care more about their own paychecks than somebody else's. Especially when they've never actually met that person.
Personally, I usually hear other people complaining on their behalf. The 1%ers I know don't complain, they just solve the problem and move on.
But the math on this is pretty straightforward. If you make $1m/yr in NYC, you're paying almost $150k in income taxes just to live there.
Yeah, you have it, but why would you spend that if you don't have to? If you buy a home in a state without income tax, you can declare residency there and avoid the whole mess. $150k/yr buys a helluva house in Florida or Texas, and now your money is going into an appreciating asset instead of a poorly managed municipality.
If they increase the income tax, they just provide more impetus to go.
Mamdani says he wants to build 200k affordable housing units, but he's already got 145k vacant ones right now. Rent controls make them unprofitable to lease, so landlords are just sitting on them.
I'll be interested to see what actually happens from here. I doubt it's going to be anywhere near as sweeping a set of reforms as he's promised, so I doubt it's going to be nearly as cataclysmic as his haters are predicting.
I'm not surprised you consider paying taxes to be a "problem".
I have lived in Dallas and in NYC. Trust me, paying a hundred thousand more for NYC is well worth it. I personally loved it the more taxes I paid. Paying millions in taxes is good! I wish I paid more than Warren Buffett, Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg all combined.
Median pay in NY is twenty thousand more.
Saying you want to build "affordable housing units" looks good on the campaign trail. Justifying why there are 145k vacant housing units is going to be the hard part. And I'm sure they will demonize the landlords in a pathetic attempt to make themselves look good.
It's also going to be hard to justify a lot of it after the trainwreck NYC has been experiencing due to their Sanctuary Shithole policies.
And I'm not surprised you're misrepresenting a post that contains math you find inconvenient.
And I'm also not surprised you ignore the fact that you try to lower your own tax burden as much as possible.
But let's go ahead and pretend you would send your $150k to the govt instead of buying the condo on the beach. *eyeroll*
You should definitely go do that, then.
Good for you. Most people aren't that ideologically extreme.
Why are you so angry all the time? Chill!
Being resentful and angry is bad for you.
Did the liberals scare your Mom in vitro?
I think you may be projecting your own emotional state onto me.
It is just math. The years I paid huge taxes were good years. They are how I was able to comfortably retire to NYC when I was in my 50s. There is nothing ideological about improved quality of life and getting away from the real ideological extremism of Texas and Oklahoma. Living in a hell hole to avoid taxes is extreme to me. Don't take me back to Texas. Overall Taxes even out anyway. In retirement mine are actually less in NYC and my healthcare expenses are way less. All the benefits offered me here are are greater. The weather is better. The food is better. The scenery is better. People are nicer. The air is cleaner and the water pristine.[✘]
I'm not the one being a Negative Nancy.[✘]
Sure. But I'm guessing you didn't voluntarily overpay. And they would have been better years if you had paid less in tax.
Personally, I'm not one of these Grover Norquist types who bitches about taxation being theft or anything. But 50% or more on earned income? C'mon. It's ridiculous.
If we're talking about "just math", the math on only increasing taxes on rich people as a solution to problems just doesn't work. There aren't enough of them and they have the capability to avoid tax if you make it too punitive.
New York = too expensive, too many people, too cold.
Miami = too expensive, too many people, too hot.
Politics has nothing to do with it. No city or state is all red or all blue. That is simply a fiction for pundits, pollsters and propagandists.
Bad weather in NYC is really pretty rare anymore. There has barely been any snow at all for years. Maybe it has been a fluke but winter weather has been really mild for the last few years.
Well said.