Why Miami Condo HOA Fees Went Up — and How to Read a Budget Before You Buy

Miami condominium fees went up because Florida law removed the option that used to hold them down: for budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, a unit-owner-controlled association may no longer vote to provide no reserves, or less than the required reserves, for structural items — Fla. Stat. s. 718.112(2)(f). Insurance and the cost of deferred structural work repriced at the same moment, but the reserve rule is the part that is permanent, and it is why the monthly number on a listing tells you almost nothing on its own.

Updated 21 August 2026Published 19 August 2026

The waiver is gone, and that is the whole story

Section 718.112(2)(f)1 requires the annual budget to include reserve accounts for capital expenditures and deferred maintenance: roof replacement, building painting and pavement resurfacing regardless of cost, plus anything else with a deferred maintenance or replacement cost above $25,000, inflation-adjusted by the division.

For decades owners could vote each year to waive or reduce those reserves, and boards did it routinely, because a waiver vote is the fastest way to hold a fee flat. That option is now closed for the items a structural integrity reserve study covers, which under s. 718.112(2)(g) are:

Roof
Structure, including load-bearing walls and other primary structural members
Fireproofing and fire protection systems
Plumbing
Electrical systems
Waterproofing and exterior painting
Windows and exterior doors

A building that waived reserves for fifteen years did not avoid those costs; it deferred them. What owners are now paying is the catch-up, and it lands hardest in the older stock along Biscayne Boulevard rather than in towers delivered after 2014.

What HB 913 changed in 2025 — and what it did not

CS/CS/HB 913, effective July 1, 2025, softened the timing without touching the principle. Three changes matter to a buyer.

The SIRS deadline moved to December 31, 2025 for associations existing before July 1, 2022, extendable to December 31, 2026 where a milestone inspection was under way.

A two-year pause became available. An association that completed a milestone inspection by December 31, 2028 may pause or reduce reserve contributions for no more than two consecutive annual budgets to fund the repairs that inspection recommended. It takes a majority of voting interests, it is closed to developer-controlled associations, and a SIRS must be completed before regular contributions resume.

Reserves may now be funded with borrowed money — special assessment, line of credit or loan, with majority approval.

Here is the part nobody puts in a listing. A pause is a deferral, not a discount, and a loan is a fee increase with a delay built in. A flat 2026 fee in a 1998 building is a question, not a reassurance: the reserve line may be genuinely funded, or the association may be inside its two-year pause with a repair scope already priced. The minutes tell you which. HB 913 also requires a SIRS to carry a baseline funding plan holding a positive cash balance and to separate mandatory reserve items from the rest, which makes the 2026 vintage far more readable than the 2023 one.

Insurance is the second driver, and it is finally moving the other way

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation's Property Insurance Stability Report of July 1, 2026 reports that the downward rate trend that began with 2024 filings "has continued through 2025 and into 2026": for residential policies effective in 2024 or later, 44 companies requested a rate decrease and 48 requested 0 percent.

Two cautions. Filings are not premiums: the master policy is priced off replacement cost, and s. 718.111(11) requires that replacement cost be set by an independent appraisal, or an update of one, at least every three years — a tower whose appraisal reset in 2024 absorbed a step change a softening market does not undo. And a falling premium does not produce a falling fee while the reserve line is still climbing underneath it. The two move independently, and in most Edgewater budgets right now they move in opposite directions.

Your own unit policy is separate from all of this. As of March 31, 2026 the OIR reports the average Miami-Dade condominium unit owner premium at $2,801 including wind coverage and $1,764 excluding it — money paid on top of the association fee, and absent from every listing's monthly figure.

What Edgewater fees actually look like

These are advertised monthly association fees on active Edgewater listings, collected August 19, 2026 — asking-side figures from live listings, not a survey of every unit, and the spread reflects unit size as much as the association.

Building	Address	Monthly association fee range
23 Biscayne Bay	601 NE 23rd St	$629 – $1,217
The Crimson	601 NE 27th St	$1,051 – $1,464
Midblock Miami	3250 NE 1st Ave	$1,109 – $2,383
Onyx on the Bay	665 NE 25th St	$1,440 – $2,306
Hyde Midtown	121 NE 34th St	$712 – $4,410

Note what that table does not show: a clean ranking. The range inside Hyde Midtown is wider than the gap between most of these buildings, which makes raw monthly fee comparison across towers close to meaningless. Compare fee per square foot, then read what the fee covers — water, cable, valet, a staffed amenity level versus a key-fob room. Two identical dollar figures can sit on very different budgets.

The five documents to ask for, and the statute that gets them

Section 718.111(12) requires official records to be made available to a unit owner within 10 working days of a written request; failure creates a presumption of willful non-compliance and $50 per day for up to 10 days, beginning on day 11. As a buyer you request through the seller, but that clock is the leverage.

The adopted budget with the reserve schedule attached — the schedule line by line, not the summary.
The structural integrity reserve study. Check its date and whether it separates mandatory from discretionary items.
The milestone inspection report, phase one and phase two.
Twelve months of board minutes, where a pause vote, a loan vote or a pending assessment appears first.
The insurance declaration page and the most recent replacement cost appraisal.

Then do one calculation: reserve contribution as a share of total budget. A building putting a thin share into reserves while carrying a 2024-or-later SIRS with real numbers in it is telling you something the fee is not.

Frequently asked questions

Can my association still waive reserves?

Not for the items listed in s. 718.112(2)(g), in budgets adopted on or after December 31, 2024, where the association is unit-owner-controlled. Limited exceptions exist for multicondominium associations using a division-approved alternative funding method.

Does the two-year pause mean my fee will drop?

It means contributions can be paused or reduced for no more than two consecutive annual budgets, by majority vote, to fund milestone-recommended repairs. The obligation resumes and a SIRS must be completed first. A pause is a scheduling decision, not a reduction in what the building owes itself.

Is a special assessment the same as a fee increase?

No. A fee increase changes the recurring budget; a special assessment is a separate levy and can arrive on top of an unchanged fee. Since HB 913 an association may instead use a line of credit or loan, approved by a majority of voting interests, which converts a one-time assessment into debt service inside future budgets.

How often does the association have to reappraise the building for insurance?

At least once every three years. Section 718.111(11) requires adequate property insurance based on replacement cost determined by an independent insurance appraisal or an update of a previous one.

What if the association will not give me the records?

Section 718.111(12) sets a 10-working-day deadline from a written request, with a presumption of willful non-compliance and $50 per day for up to 10 days after that. If records are slow before closing, treat the delay itself as information.

If you want the budget read before your inspection period closes

If you are under contract in Edgewater or along the bayfront and want the budget, the SIRS and the minutes read together rather than separately, see how I work with buyers or get in touch. The wider statutory picture is in the 2026 Florida condo law guide.

General information about Florida statutes and published regulatory data, not legal, accounting or engineering advice. I am a licensed real estate sales associate, not an attorney. Verify statutory text at the source and retain qualified professionals for a specific building. Fee figures are advertised amounts on active listings as of August 19, 2026, not a representation of what any unit will be charged.

Work with Stefania

Question about a specific building?

Send the building or the unit and Stefania will come back with the real numbers — the fee, the reserve position, and what comparable units actually traded at.