Regional Overview, Florida, USA.

With 360 days of sunshine a year and over 1,000 miles of beautiful beaches, Florida offers a superb lifestyle.

Florida is rewarding buyers with a strong rate of annual capital appreciation while promising a good potential income from a tried and tested rental market. Soaring visitor figures and a burgeoning second home market are proof that Britain’s long-standing love affair with Florida is as passionate as ever, especially in the Orlando region where the lure of Mouse Magic reigns supreme. Visitors in need of R&R will find Florida oh-so relaxing, while those seeking roller coaster thrills and spills will soon discover some of the finest theme parks on the planet.

Why Florida?

Florida’s glorious year-round weather is as warm as its people, and more than 50,000 British homeowners have now joined the local population of 17 million and are reaping the rewards of a savvy Sunshine State investment. Tourist figures are generally a good indication of the vitality of a real estate market and in Florida visitors to the central “tourist corridor” are tipped to hit 49 million. Visitors to Orlando and Central Florida account for 35 per cent of the total US visitors’ arrivals. Average house prices here have soared past the $200,000 mark for the first time in history: the 24 per cent rise in a 12 month period represents an average increase of $40,000 and a hike of more than 87 per cent in just five years.

Where to buy?

Orlando remains by far the most popular holiday destination in Florida thanks to a range of world-class tourist facilities, restaurants and magic castles. Miami and the Everglades follow with 16.8 per cent of the overall market, while Tampa and St Petersburg represent the third most popular destination within Florida, with 12.3 per cent of the market, up from 11.9 per cent in 2003. Other key areas include the white sand beaches of Sarasota, the southwestern Gulf coastline and the quirky tropical archipelago, the Florida Keys.

Properties in Orlando have risen 30 per cent in value on average since January 2004, mirroring Central Florida’s trend in tourism and inward investment. Many foreign buyers choose new-build homes over a resale with the aim of maximizing rental appeal. They also try to find houses as close as possible to Orlando’s major tourist attractions and within easy reach of the newly expanded international airport. Many seek a close proximity to amenities that will drive up the return on their investment, a factor that has seen Florida spawn several popular self-styled “resort communities” over the last two or three years. These offer buyers (and their rental customers) a range of first class on-site facilities such as basketball and tennis courts, swimming pools, spa and health facilities, restaurants and bars (sometimes with hotel-style room service), playgrounds, picnic areas, private beaches and 24 hour security. More and more are centered on championship golf courses with landscaped grounds and gardens, and are of a standard comparable to a five star hotel. Prices come with a premium but “rent-ability” is often optimized thanks to a package of amenities that is second to none.

What can you get for your money?

A prime example of a resort community in the Orlando area is the Reunion Resort and Club, located on 2,300 acres in Osceola County, immediately south of Celebration and just 15 minutes from Disney World. Recreation facilities include three signature golf courses, while other amenities include shops, a spa and fitness center, tennis courts, fishing lakes and riding stables. Prices start in the late $200,000s for a condominium and in the mid $300,000s for a villa, both of which are eligible for the year-round rental scheme. Other resort communities in Orlando include Legacy Park where a deluxe pool home with three to five bedrooms is priced from $381,990, as well as Sandy Ridge, where a similar villa costs $400,000.

Miami means business

Although the salsa city of Miami once epitomized the seedier side of Florida, today a New York-style clean up has freed the city from a reputation that almost brought about its demise. A skyscape of palm-edged plazas, beachfront cafés and swish high-rise apartments overlook a slick business district that is quickly becoming one of Miami’s most desirable buy-to-let locations.

Sleek, stylish and with dazzling river views, Brickell on the River is one of Miami’s latest high-rise condominium projects. Located in the business area of the city looking out onto Key Biscayne, the development comprises a range of apartments priced from the mid $300,000s. Elsewhere in the business district, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom resale condo with striking waterfront views is priced at $699,000.

Tallahassee and Naples

Tallahassee – Florida’s capital – has a much more sedate feel and is famed for its large plantations and rich agricultural land. The Lafayette Oaks development boasts the distinction of being Tallahassee's very first gated community. Located northeast of the center, Lafayette Oaks comprises over 300 houses on some of the largest plots in Tallahassee. Homes are surprisingly affordable, averaging $265,000 for a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home. Even a small two-bedroom, two-bathroom town home can command $1,250 per month in rental on a six-month minimum lease.

Hailed as “One of Florida’s Best Places to Live”, Naples on the southwestern Gulf Coast has experienced some of the fastest increases in property values in Florida. Real estate prices rose by 27 per cent during 2004. Naples is crammed with plenty of Mediterranean influences, from Tuscan-style architecture with stucco décor to an abundance of up market Italian brasseries and shoe shops. Properties at the luxurious Fiddlers Creek are suitably grand, set on an elegant 4,000-acre plot where more than 7,000 homes form over a dozen individually styled villages set in lush tropical gardens.

Onsite amenities include a spa, fitness suite, swimming pool complex, tennis courts and 72 holes of championship golf, not to mention the bars, fine dining, 750 acres of wildlife reserve and a river, six miles long, that can be navigated by boat. Prices here range from $400,000 to $4 million.

Sarasota and the Keys

North of Naples along the Gulf Coast is the pretty coastal city of Sarasota, renowned for its pristine white sandy beaches and immaculate streets. The city has a genteel character enhanced by large expanses of water dotted with flotillas of boats. It’s famed for its theatre, opera and artisans and is the self-proclaimed “Cultural Capital of Florida” staging hundreds of performances and concerts as well as an annual International Film Festival. Property prices in Sarasota have risen sharply since 2000 and achieved an annual growth of 32 per cent in 2004. In February 2005 an average family home cost $330,000, compared to $230,000 12 months earlier. Few communities allow short-term rental but some allow longer-term leasing. In Siesta Beach these three-month lets are popular with a Canadian “snowbird” crowd, who return to Sarasota each year to avoid their own harsh native winters. Two-bedroom condos in Siesta Beach can cost anything from $250,000 and can command peak weekly rental rates of $4,000 per week. Expect to pay $419,500 for a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home on the Lakewood Ranch development in Bradenton, and anything up to $20 million for a waterfront pad on the exclusive Bird Key.

There is more sought after real estate in the Florida Keys, where palm-fringed beaches and the 220 mile long coral reef inspire house hunters to settle in an area famed for its congeniality and eccentricity. The islanders’ fish sail and hang out in bars or hammocks all day. Even soaring property prices (combined with a higher than average cost of living) don’t dampen the appeal. A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Key West’s Truman Street will set you back at least $3.5 million, yet holiday rentals can easily command up to $1,000 in rental per night for the right place, at the right time, making buy-to-let properties feel rather stylish.

10 REASONS TO BUY IN FLORIDA

1 - It’s the most popular holiday destination in the world, boasting 360 days of sunshine a year.

2 - Florida has good year-round rental potential with tourists flocking to some of the finest theme parks and attractions on the planet.

3 - It currently has 1,750 golf courses.

4 - A beach is never more than 60 miles away.

5 - The cost of living is lower than in the UK and eating out is very good value.

6 - Florida is English-speaking with similar social values to the UK.

7 - There are numerous established British expatriate communities in Florida.

8 - Florida has hundreds of British pubs, tearooms and specialist grocery stores.

9 - Flights to Florida are frequent from a number of UK airports.