A new dawn for America's Sunshine State?
Florida's decline during the global recession has been dramatic and well
documented, with 50 per cent price falls on average across the Sunshine
State and half of the properties currently on the market distressed sales by
owners who can't keep up mortgage payments.
It is still nearly impossible for buyers to get finance in Florida for
condos, considered high risk by banks as they are more likely to be owned by
investors. But
the market for detached houses is recovering first because
finance is now available for overseas buyers in Florida, 16 per cent of whom
are British.
Most head straight to Orlando, the state's entertainment and conference
mecca soon to see another huge boost when The Wizarding World of Harry
Potter, a new Universal Studios attraction, opens this spring.
'The closer to Disney, the better the rental potential and the more
expensive the property,' comments David Smith from Orlando Property UK. 'But
don't expect to make a large annual net income from renting out the holiday
home. Your return on investment will mainly come from an increase in the
property's value.'
The bargains are attracting a new surge of British buyers, such as Adriana
Bothwell, 37, and husband Peter, 41, who run a metalwork company and live in
Theydon Bois, Essex.
They have just bought a six-bedroom, fully-furnished show house at Windsor
Hills, a gated community two miles from Disney World, through Orlando
Property UK and paid £253,000 - £130,000 less than similar houses on the
development cost in 2006.
'As it was the show home, they threw in the £38,000 furniture package for
nothing,' says Adriana, who will spend family holidays in their new home,
with children Natasha, nine, and Joseph, seven, and rent it out for up to
£1,000 a week.
'We wanted an investment property that we could also use. Europe didn't
appeal because of the high euro, but with Florida's prices so low it seemed
ideal.'
Posted: 9 March 2010
Source: Mail on Sunday
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