Buying property in Florida continues to thrill

If someone told you that you could purchase a three-bedroom property with a pool close to one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions for as little as £200,000, you’d assume they were winding you up.

It is surprising how much affect a single development can have on an area – how a city, state, region or even country can be completely rejuvenated by the addition of one new attraction. For example, who could have known that a steel tower erected in the heart of the French capital amidst fierce protests from locals who considered it an eyesore, would go on to attract almost six million visitors a year? Who could have predicted that a badly constructed cathedral in Pisa, Italy, would prove to be such a hit with tourists? In Florida’s case, given the development in question increased tourism was not so much a surprise as an inevitable consequence, the role this development has had in transforming the state from a southern US backwater into a property buyer’s dream was perhaps not so expected. The development referred to is, of course, Disney World.

Hard as it may be to believe at a time when the popularity of the ‘Sunshine State’ is at an all-time high with Brits. Indeed Florida was recently ranked first in a survey carried out by Internet travel agent Ebookers to find the most popular holiday destination for British residents. On the other hand, recent data from the Office of National Statistics suggests that around 2,000 British residents bought a property in Florida from 2003–04. How things change. Just over 40 years ago the state had the smallest population in the southern United States [it now has the second largest] and wouldn’t have featured on many, if any, holiday wish lists. This all started to change in 1963 when the Disney brothers, Walt and Roy, decided that some wasteland south-west of Orlando in central Florida would be the perfect location for a new, bigger version of the Disney Land Resort theme park that had opened in California eight years earlier. Disney World Florida opened in 1971 and has since grown massively both in size and popularity. Today, Disney World – which comprises four theme parks, five world-class golf courses, two water parks, and covers a total land area of 116 square kilometres – is visited by over 40 million tourists a year. As a result, property around the area has become a much sought-after commodity, not just with those looking for a holiday home, but also for investment purchasers keen to take advantage of the region’s mass tourism appeal, by drawing millions of tourists to the area by Mickey Mouse et al.

Posted on: Florida

News by country

Buying property in Florida continues to thrill

Related articles

Recent Posts

News archive