South Florida Rent Is Skyrocketing

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – On Apartments.com, you'd be hard pressed to find much affordable in the Fort Lauderdale area.

Studio apartments average $1,800 a month, while two- and three-bedroom apartments are through the roof, several grand.

"I'm afraid it will lead to more homelessness," said area realtor Didi Collins. "You gotta have a good amount of money to rent or buy."

It's why her 25-year-old daughter lives at home.

"It's out of reach right now," said Alexis Collins.

The fact is wages in South Florida are not keeping up with the rising rent. It's expected rents will keep escalating before the end of the year

Renter Alina Ocisio, who moved here from Ukraine two years ago, said she and her husband are making it, but she wonders how their friends are surviving.

"On average people make $3,000 a month" she said. "And with a two bedroom going for 2500 And you need to eat and once in a while but something to wear. It's very expensive."

"It's what causes families to migrate out of a region," said Dr. Ned Murray, a leading expert on economic and housing market issues in South Florida.

He said what was already a housing crunch is now a crisis and will take a lot of cities and builders working together to solve it.

"It could be small multifamily units to start. But we need to hold on to what's available because we lost so much to areas that were revitalized," he said.