Anyone looking to relocate to South Florida may be in for sticker shock as it becomes one the most unaffordable places to buy a home in the United States.

The average new mortgage payment for a home in the area has nearly doubled over the past year making the average monthly payment $2,452 — a 96.5 percent increase over last year.

Mortgage rates have been rising across the board amid record-high inflation, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumping to 7.16 percent for the week ending October 21.

But in South Florida, the difference has become even more pronounced after the area saw a boom in its population during the height of the COVID pandemic.

'South Florida has already been one of the most unaffordable markets in the country for a long time,' said Nicole Bachaud, a senior economist for realty site Zillow.

'It's putting a significant strain on household budgets when it comes to buying and affording a new mortgage.' 

Florida is now seeing the third-highest increase in the country for monthly mortgage payments, experts at realty site Zillow determined.

They used the typical home value of a neighborhood, assumed a homebuyer would put down a typical 20 percent down payment with a 30-year fixed mortgage and used the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey to determine interest rates in 100 cities across the country.

The experts found that the majority of cities that had the largest increases in mortgage rates were in the Sunshine State.