Which Flamingo-Lummus Median Is the Real One? Reading the Stale Redfin Page, the Rental Rules and the Census Rent Burden

Why do the Flamingo-Lummus medians differ so much?

Start with the date. The Redfin page's text says that in September 2025 prices were up 4.7% and homes sold for a median of $278,000, that 76 homes sold against 86 a year before and that homes sold after 115 days against 87. It is a year older than the Realtor.com page, and the Redfin page does not say it is out of date. A reader who opens it today sees a figure that is nine months older than Realtor.com's June 2026 indicators. This brief treats the Redfin page as stale and uses it only for its structure: a median of $278,000, a sale-to-list ratio of 94.0% and 5.3% of homes sold above list.

The Realtor.com page is more recent but is not simple. It shows a median sold price of $348,500, up 40.81% in a year and 12.97% in three years, and a median listing price of $299,000, down 3.55% in a year and 6.27% in three. The sold median is 16.6% above the listing median, computed here. The page's price per square foot is $510, down 3.95%, and its listing count is down 24.39% in a year but up 78.84% in three. Those figures point in different directions, and the page does not explain them. A thin month of sales with a different mix of units can produce a 40.81% rise in a median while the price per square foot falls.

The nearby comparison table on the Realtor.com page shows how wide the range is. It lists median listing prices for eleven nearby neighborhoods and complexes, from $310,000 to $1,088,500, and rents from $2,600 to $5,700 a month. The Flamingo-Lummus listing median of $299,000 is below all eleven, computed here from the table, and the highest of the eleven is 3.6 times the Flamingo-Lummus figure. The page does not say what the other areas include. Read with care, it says that this neighborhood sits at the low end of South Beach, which is the page's data and is not a judgment about any building.

A condominium search page adds unit sizes. It shows average sizes of about 632 square feet for one-bedrooms, 855 for two-bedrooms and 1,396 for three-bedroom units (Condo search page, Flamingo-Lummus). It shows an average one-bedroom sold price of $282,992, $456 per square foot and 144 days on market, while its own text says units typically remain about 143 days. The one-day difference is trivial, but it shows that even a single page can give two figures. The page also says there is no price and liquidity data available in its summary, so its figures come from a handful of units.

Put together, a typical Flamingo-Lummus sale is a small condominium of about 600 to 900 square feet at a price between $283,000 and $348,500, and the pages differ by about 23% on that number. A brokerage blog on Miami Beach condos says the median list price for the city was $539,000 in July 2026, down from $550,000, and warns that a median averages together buildings that no longer compete for the same buyer (Brokerage blog, Miami Beach condo median). The city's median is 80.3% above the neighborhood's $299,000 listing median, computed here, so Flamingo-Lummus is not the market of its city.

Sources as cited. The dates, areas and measures differ and the figures are not directly comparable. Commercial content; not independently verified.

What do rentals say about Flamingo-Lummus, and what do the short-term rules allow?

The rental report counts 52 rental closings for March 2026: 12 studios, 29 one-bedrooms, 10 two-bedrooms and one three-bedroom, which sum to 52, computed here. Studios averaged $1,698, with a range of $1,495 to $2,100 and 51 days on market. One-bedrooms averaged $2,226, from $1,800 to $3,700, in 88 days. Two-bedrooms averaged $3,575, from $2,600 to $8,000, in 69 days. The one three-bedroom rented at $3,800. The weighted average of the 52 is about $2,394 a month, computed here, which is 1.9% above Realtor.com's $2,350 median and 31.4% above the Census median of $1,822.

The report calls Flamingo-Lummus the most affordable Miami Beach rental neighborhood in its dataset, and its own data note says building names and neighborhood classifications follow the firm's standards and may differ from the MLS. That is a caution. The report also says one-bedrooms are the highest-volume segment and carry the widest range of building quality, with older walk-up buildings at the lower end. The two-bedroom average is 2.1 times the studio average, computed here, and 1.6 times the one-bedroom average.

Rentals here are not only long-term. The city's page says vacation and short-term rentals, those under six months and one day, are prohibited in all single-family homes and in many multifamily buildings in certain zoning districts, and that approved rentals must carry a city Business Tax Receipt and a Resort Tax account and display both numbers in every listing (City of Miami Beach, vacation short term rentals). The page also publishes a list of properties approved for short-term rental by business license district. This brief does not reproduce that list, and a seller can check whether a particular building is on it.

A summary of the rules, last verified July 10, 2026 by its publisher, says short-term rentals are legal only in certain higher-density and mixed-use districts or in narrow historic-district exceptions, that the current rules took effect June 6, 2023 and that occupancy taxes total about 14% of gross revenue (Rule summary, Miami Beach short-term rentals). It says the exceptions include the Flamingo Park and Espanola Way historic districts, and that illegal rentals face fines of $1,000 a day for a first violation and $5,000 a day for a repeat under state limits. The 14% is the sum of 6%, 1%, 3% and 4%, computed here. These are a summary's statements and a seller should confirm them with the city.

Why does this matter for a sale? A unit that is legally approved for short-term rental sells to a different buyer than a unit that is not, and an owner who has been renting a unit short-term without approval has a different problem altogether. The pages do not give prices for approved and unapproved units, so this brief does not claim a premium. It says only that rental status is a fact buyers will ask about, and a seller should know the answer before listing. The Corcoran report for the second quarter says the Miami Beaches single-family median sale price rose 77% to $4.9 million (Brokerage report, Miami Beaches second quarter 2026), which is 14.1 times Flamingo-Lummus's $348,500, computed here, and shows how little the two markets share.

How long do Flamingo-Lummus homes take to sell?

The clocks are long. Realtor.com shows a median of 101 days on market, up 5.16% in a year and up 52.24% in three years, and calls the neighborhood a cool market. The condominium search page shows about 143 to 144 days for one-bedroom units. The stale Redfin page shows 115 days in September 2025 against 87 a year earlier, up 32.2%, computed here, and says the average home goes pending in around 114 days and sells for about 6% below list. The three pages agree that a sale takes more than three months and disagree on how much more.

Prices relative to list differ by year. Realtor.com says homes sold for 3.69% below asking in June 2026, a ratio of 96%. On a $348,500 sale that is $12,860, computed here. The stale Redfin page says 94.0% for September 2025, 2.0 points lower. The older figure suggests that discounts were deeper a year earlier, though the pages count different months and different sales. A seller who expects 100% of ask in this neighborhood is expecting what neither page shows.

Inventory is falling but is still large. Realtor.com shows 395 active listings, down 24.39% in a year and down 8.88% in a month, up 78.84% over three years, and 415 rental listings, down 15.93%. The two counts are close: 395 listings for sale against 415 for rent, a ratio of 0.95, computed here. In a neighborhood of small units, nearly as many owners are renting out as are selling. The month-over-month change in the median listing price is down 1.48%, the page says, a mild cooling.

The data also shows where buyers come from, indirectly. Sold prices at the low end, around $283,000 for a one-bedroom, are within reach of cash buyers and investors, and the rental figures above give those buyers an income benchmark. A one-bedroom that rents for $2,226 a month is $26,712 a year, computed here, which is 9.4% of the $282,992 average one-bedroom sold price. That is a gross figure before association fees, taxes, insurance and vacancy, which the pages do not give for any unit, and it is not a yield. It only shows that investors compare these units with rents, and a seller's home may be priced against its rent as well as against sales.

The pages do not say how many sales are cash, or how many happen off the listing services. A public median covers only the sales the page counts, which is an inference, and a private buyer's offer may not be comparable with a public figure at all.

What does the Census say about bedrooms, rent burden and incomes near Flamingo-Lummus?

The Census postal area that includes Flamingo-Lummus has 30,259 housing units. Of them, 5,966 have no separate bedroom, 19.7%, and 12,996 have one, 42.9%, so 18,962, 62.7%, have one bedroom or none, computed here. Two-bedroom homes number 8,254, 27.3%, three-bedroom 1,936, 6.4%, four-bedroom 789, 2.6% and homes of five or more bedrooms 318, 1.1%. Homes with three or more bedrooms are 3,043, 10.1%. This is a market of small units, and a median across it is a median of studios and one-bedrooms.

Renters carry heavy burdens. Of 12,443 renter households, the Census computes the share of income paid in rent for 11,939. Of those, 4,052 pay 50% or more, 33.9%, and 1,268 pay 40% to 49.9%, 10.6%, computed here. Those who pay 30% or more total 7,275, 60.9% of the 11,939. Those who pay under 30% total 4,664, 39.1%. A renter paying half of income is a household that rents because it cannot buy, and it is also a household that may rent out the unit if the owner buys. The Census says nothing about any one building.

Incomes and values are modest for a beach neighborhood. The median household income is $69,793, the median rent is $1,822 and the median owner value is $480,900, plus or minus $32,175. The median rent over a year, $21,864, is 31.3% of the median income, computed here, though renters' incomes differ from all households' incomes. The ratio of median value to median income is 6.9, and Realtor.com's $348,500 sold median is 5.0 times the income, both computed here. The Census value is 38.0% above the Realtor.com sold median, which is consistent with the Census figure covering the whole postal area, with its larger and higher-priced units.

Owners are the smaller group: 7,379 of 19,822 occupied homes, 37.2%, against 12,443 rented, 62.8%. The median year built is 1970 and 66.1% of homes were built before 1980. The postal area has 33,753 residents. The Census cannot say which of the owners live in their units, and the pages suggest that many do not. Two pieces of context help a seller. The first is that renters outnumber owners by 1.7 to one, computed here, so a building's board and its owners are often not the same people who live there. The second is that a buyer for a small unit often compares it with its rent.

One more caution. The Census figures cover a postal area that is larger than Flamingo-Lummus, and a sibling post uses the same area for South Beach with different cuts. The bedroom and rent-burden figures are the setting for this neighborhood and not a count of its buildings. The sold prices above are for one slice of it, and the Census says the typical unit is small and the typical renter is stretched. Readers comparing markets can also read the South Beach brief and the Miramar Beach brief.

Source: Census Reporter, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25041, B25070, B25003, B25034, B25077, B25064 and B19013. Percentages and ratios are this brief's arithmetic.

What should an owner ask, and what does a private sale change?

The first question is which building and which unit. A studio of 400 square feet, a two-bedroom of 855 square feet and a three-bedroom of 1,396 do not share a median, a buyer or a clock. A seller should ask for closed sales in the same building from the last twelve months, with the days to contract, the first ask and the final price. In a small building, a seller's comparison may be two or three units.

The second question is what a number measures and when. Ask whether it is a sale price or an ask, a median or an average, which month it covers and whether the page is current. The pages above differ on every one of those points, and one is a year old. A seller who reads $348,500 as today's price will overshoot the stale Redfin figure by 25.4% and the $299,000 listing median by 16.6%, computed here.

The third question is the cost of selling, and the arithmetic is simple. Each 1% of $278,000 is $2,780. At 3% the figure is $8,340 and at 5% it is $13,900. At $299,000, each 1% is $2,990, 3% is $8,970 and 5% is $14,950. At $348,500, each 1% is $3,485, 3% is $10,455 and 5% is $17,425. These illustrate the size of each percentage point and are not quotes of any rate a seller would be charged. No page in this brief names a Flamingo-Lummus commission rate, and the medians are not the price of any one home.

The fourth question is what a listing exposes. With a median of 101 days or more, a public listing can mean months of showings and a visible price history, and a buyer's side will ask about rental approval, association finances and any pending assessments. A private sale has no showings and no neighbors talking about a sale, which matters in a building where the neighbors may also be tenants or board members.

The benefits are plain. Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. A private sale has no showings. It allows closing dates that give a seller time to find a new home. It has no commission costs and no closing costs, and it avoids inspection repairs, which matters in a postal area where 66.1% of homes predate 1980, though the Census says nothing about the condition of any one building. The company does not say that a private sale always beats a public listing, and in a neighborhood where one page shows $278,000 and another $348,500, an owner is right to ask what each route yields. If you would like a private, no-obligation offer for a Flamingo-Lummus home, call 401-219-4207 or use the contact form on this site.

Methodology and limitations

Each page's date, title and place were read before use. The Redfin page is stated for September 2025 and is a year old, so it is used only for contrast. The Realtor.com page is for June 2026 and shows opposite directions for its sold and listing medians. The rental report's own note says its building names and neighborhood classifications may differ from the MLS. The short-term rental statements come from the city's page and a summary of the rules, and were not checked against the code. The Census figures are five-year estimates for a postal area that is larger than Flamingo-Lummus. Percent changes were taken as printed, and ratios and sums are this brief's arithmetic.

Conclusion

The Flamingo-Lummus record shows a median of $278,000 on a year-old page and $348,500 on a June 2026 page, rents of $1,698 to $3,575 by size, short-term rental limits set by the city, and a postal area where 62.7% of homes have one bedroom or none and 60.9% of renters with computed ratios pay 30% or more of income. The useful number for an owner is a closed sale in the same building, not a median.