New Orlando theme park to attract more British buyers?

Today's London paper The Evening Standard featured a short article on something that might attract some British buyers back to the Sunshine State - the new Harry Potter theme park in Orlando.

I think it's a slightly tenuous link, to be honest - I don't doubt that many millions of visitors each year are drawn to the theme parks of Orlando, but I don't believe it's something to really draw in that many property buyers. Unless, of course, someone's buying with the intention of letting out the property to holidaymakers - but the article never makes any mention of this.

The piece does, however, point out some useful facts. For those that are interested in Orlando and all the delights it has to offer, it states that Sarasota and Tampa, about 2 hours away on the Gulf Coast may be suitable locations to buy in. It also states that the west coast of Florida is less crowded than the east - though I suppose that's not for everyone! Nevertheless, the point is that if buying in either of these locations you'll be close to something (or perhaps even right on, if you're lucky) that Orlando doesn't have - the sea. For me, being on the coast and near beaches wins over Orlando and its theme parks every time.

The Standard article also states that prices are "back up to 2003 levels" which, well, doesn't really mean much. It makes no mention of when prices were at their highest (before the crash, so think 2006) so the fact that property prices are now back to where they were in 2003 isn't all that exciting, nor especially a reason to get a move on and buy before they spiral out of control.

However, it does rightly say that the oversupply of properties is one reason to consider purchasing now - with such strong supply, buyers will be able to take their pick from a selection of good quality stock. As they say, this "puts buyers in the driving seat". It claims vast number of properties on the market caused prices in Florida to fall by between 25-50% (that's quite a huge range, no?) in the last 18 months, and the oversupply will take another year to lessen and disappear, according to one agent in Orlando. Prices have certainly dropped sharply, so this coupled with supply greatly outstripping demand certainly is a reason to consider buying now.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the article online, but I have essentially covered the main points here!

Note: for those interested in the new theme park, it's called the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it's opening at Universal Orlando sometime this spring.