Oil has crashed. Stocks have, too. What investment is holding up?  Florida real estate. “Single-Family Home Prices Soar in Broward County,” according to a headline in the Miami Herald newspaper recently. But it’s not just Broward County.

Miami home prices are up 50% since 2012, according to last week’s update from the Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index (which measures the prices of single-family homes across 20 of the country’s largest cities).  After moves like this, you might think that house prices in Florida are getting expensive. You would be wrong.

Even after these upward moves, Florida real estate looks darn attractive relative to just about anything you can do with your money.  According to a recent report from RealtyTrac, the rental yields in Florida are still incredibly high. Take a look:

These numbers represent gross rental income not net rental income. These are “top-line” figures. But if you figure “all-in” rental expenses in the 5%-7% range (relative to the value of the house), Florida residential real estate still looks great.

To see how this applies to your own situation, we highly recommend you take a moment to look through that RealtyTrac report. It’s a report on the national situation in house rentals. In particular, zoom in on the graphs of your area. You can find out just how attractive it is to buy a rental property in your area right now.

According to the RealtyTrac charts, the value in Florida (based on rental yields) is still incredible relative to anything else you can do with your money.  This is even shown in non rental properties like Port Charlotte land. However, you can’t say the same about the California coast. According to RealtyTrac, most of the counties near the coast in California have GROSS rents in the 5% range. That is way too low.

In short, after expenses in California, you would likely end up breaking even – at best! At that point, you’d be hoping for appreciation in California to make up ALL of your real estate returns. While that has worked in the past in California, it is a dangerous game.

Our money is on the Florida coast… It’s relatively cheap. It’s desirable. Rental yields are high. There’s no supply. It’s where the majority of money is today, what bigger endorsement can we give you?

The story is bigger than Florida land sales. Relative to just about any other asset class, residential property across much of the U.S. looks pretty darn good. It offers us relatively high rewards for relatively low risks. If you’re looking for a safe place for your money, consider residential real estate in your area. A quick starting point is the numbers in the RealtyTrac report, minus 5%-7% for expenses.

To learn more about the Florida Real Estate Market visit 9 Core Realty on the web!