Situated in between Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park, Homestead is a city in Miami-Dade County in Florida. It lays to the north of Florida City and along with the latter form the greater Homestead-Florida City area. The city's name has an interesting history and is derived from a path by the name of "Homesteader's Trail", that was the only means to reach the place. It is a small sized city with a comparatively large population of 54,000 people. This is the last city south before reaching the Florida Keys. The Redlands are Homestead's premiere home development where in some places only one house is allowed to be built in a five acres lot.



The city has a total area of about 14.3 mi sq. Homestead has a humid subtropical climate and reminds one of the climates that is existent in Miami and the rest of the South Florida Metropolitan area. Summers are extremely humid and hot with high temperatures while winters are mild and even cool when compared to nearby coastal regions. History bears witness to the fact that hurricanes have harmed the place the most. Hurricane Andrew was the last major hurricane that hit the area and Homestead took more than five years to completely recuperate. The place also came in way of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma but they did not deal a major blow.

The oldest city in Miami-Dade County has a well developed education system and lies within the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district. There are a number of elementary and middle schools and two famous charter schools in the form of Keys Gate Charter School and Waterstone Charter School. Miami-Dade College is located in this city . There is a huge amount of undeveloped land in this city. The most famous farms are owned and operated by Manuel Diaz.

The city of Homestead has many major attractions which are especially popular with tourists. Biscayne National Park, Everglades Alligator Farm, Fruit and Spice Park and Homestead Rodeo are some sites of interest. The Biscayne National Park is famous for its scuba diving and snorkeling options and is a must- visit site for tourists. A botanical garden spread over an area of 32 acres, the Fruit and Spice Park is one of the greatest attractions in Homestead containing over 500 varieties of fruit, nut and spice trees. Another renowned tourist attraction in Homestead is the Monkey Jungle that has stood since 1933 and contains 400 primates of 30 different species. The economy of Homestead some time ago was thriving since it was a major steel producer in the United States. During the 1980's this stature of Homestead deteriorated fast as most of the steel companies went overseas. The situation further worsened after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 swept away much of the commercial center of the city.

The real estate market in Homestead is again picking up and prices are increasingly becoming more competitive. More than 50% of the real estate in Homestead is owner occupied and about 40% are rented units. The market was very robust recently and thousands of new construction homes were built but now it has cooled. The Redlands and Nob Hill are among the more exclusive places to live in Homestead. Average price of a single family home is $271,000 and the average home age is 22 years. Homestead real estate will rebound again in 2008.