The number of Australians investing in US residential property has shrunk from its post-global financial crisis boom, but Australians who still own housing in the world’s largest economy say it can be profitable – as long as you don’t count on a capital gain.

Aconex cofounder-turned-tech investor Leigh Jasper bought a four-bedroom family home in Silicon Valley’s Menlo Park in 2010 – for “far less” than the equivalent in his hometown of Melbourne – and said the rental yield on the property he now leases out is higher than he’d get in Australia.