The history of Kissimmee real estate serves as a concise example of real estate history in the state of Florida. Kissimmee property is located in Osceola County in Florida. Kissimmee, however, serves as the county seat of Osceola county and is the principle city in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area, which somewhat protects the Kissimmee property from some of the vagaries that affect the rest of the Florida property market.
The Kissimmee real estate began when the area was known as Allendale, although it was renamed Kissimmee when the area was incorporated in 1883. In Kissimmee, property speculation was behind the initial growth of this Florida property, a pattern that would continue throughout the development of a great deal of Florida property.
The difference is that the Kissimmee property benefited from the land speculation in the area. Hamilton Disston out of Philadelphia based his two million acre drainage operation out of the small town of Allendale, with the understanding that he would retain use of one half of the Florida property that he reclaimed. His ability to reclaim the Kissimmee property led him to be the largest single property owner in the United States of America in the 1880s.
By the middle of the decade, however, the value of Kissimmee property had diminished substantially. The value of the Florida property also decreased because of the growth of the railroads in the region, and consecutive freezes crippling the citrus industry, as well as a severe economic panic. Kissimmee property values climbed after Walt Disney World was built in the 1970s, although they were again damaged in 2004 when three hurricanes ravaged the area in seven months.
