Does Miami’s No. 44 Global 'Liveability' Ranking Justify Premium Condo Prices?

In this episode of Miami Condo Mondays™, the hosts analyze the "2026 Global Liveability Index" of 173 cities, debating whether South Florida’s ranking captures market reality or hides weaknesses.Miami Condo Mondays™ features Peter Zalewski of the Miami Condo Investing Club™ and veteran broker Jenny Huertas of CVRRealty.com in a weekly deep dive into South Florida condo real estate.Recorded in Greater Downtown Miami, the podcast delivers an hour of high-level analysis on preconstruction condos, market trends and investment strategies for the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.The show leverages more than 60 years of combined institutional knowledge as Zalewski provides the macro perspective and Huertas offers on-the-ground micro insights from her daily experience in the trenches.The show streams live every Monday at 4 pm on the social media accounts of both hosts to provide an authoritative look at the latest shifts in the condo market.Episode OverviewIn this episode of the Miami Condo Mondays™ podcast on July 27, 2026, co-hosts Jenny Huertas of CVR Realty and Peter Zalewski of the Miami Condo Investing Club™ evaluate whether South Florida’s real estate market can continue to command premium prices in light of global quality-of-life rankings.The hosts examine the “2026 Global Liveability Index” report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) that assesses 173 cities worldwide based on the five core categories of stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.While South Florida real estate marketers pitch the region as a world-class destination, the numbers collected by the EIU report outline a far more modest standing.Globally, Denmark’s Copenhagen claimed the top spot with an overall score of 98.0 out of 100, while Miami came in at 44th place worldwide, holding the exact same rank as in 2025.Domestically, Miami ranked eighth among U.S. metropolitan areas with an overall “Liveability” score of 90.4.Miami finished behind top-ranked Honolulu at 93.2, Atlanta (No. 2) at 92.3, Pittsburgh (No. 3) at 92.1, Seattle (No. 4) at 91.8, Washington, D.C. (No. 5) at 91.2, Chicago (No. 6) at 91.1 and Boston (No. 7) at 90.5.Miami, however, outranked San Francisco (No. 9) at 90.3, Minneapolis (No. 10) at 90.2, Los Angeles (No. 11) at 87.6 and New York City (No. 12) at 87.0.During the 77-minute episode, the hosts trace Miami’s performance by the specific subcategories and discuss the EIU results.On Stability, Miami logged an 85.0 score, matching Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, yet trailing Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis at 90.0.Miami recorded standard U.S. baseline scores of 91.7 for health care and 100 for education.In culture and environment, Miami posted an 88.9 score, beating Los Angeles and New York City at 87.5, but falling short of Seattle at 96.5, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco at 94.4 and Atlanta, Chicago and Boston at 91.7.On infrastructure, Miami achieved a score of 92.9, matching Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles but lagging Honolulu, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington D.C., Boston and New York City at 96.4.Huertas notes the study contains a critical methodology blind spot for local buyers and renters because the Index excludes housing affordability, tailoring data toward corporate expatriates who typically receive relocation subsidies.The hosts tie civic fundamentals directly to macro headwinds, noting geopolitical conflict in the Middle East disrupting competing hubs like Dubai, while 10-Year Treasury yields near 4.65% push 30-year fixed mortgage rates toward 7.6%.Huertas and Zalewski close the episode divided on the South Florida market’s outlook, with Huertas bullish on Miami’s long-term international trajectory and Zalewski bearish on buyers paying premium prices for eighth-place domestic fundamentals.