An article in the Wall Street Journal today caught my eye about vacation homes from the NAR 2010 home purchase data. Did you know that there were 7.9 million vacation homes in US in 2010? 2010 data showed that the median vacation buyer age was 49 years old, the median sales price was $150K and 543,000 vacation homes were purchased in 2010.
Not surprising, the regions for vacation homes in 2010 were: 36% south, 27% west, 19% northeast, 15% midwest, 3% outside US. This looks much like other data I've seen over the years that has a lot to do with people vacationing in warmer climates.
The part of this data that I found the most intriguing were the areas where these homes were purchased as follows: Rural areas: 26%, Suburbs/subdivisions: 24%, Small towns: 22%, Resort areas: 19%, Urban/central city: 9%. Looks like people are more interested in vacationing away from the cities more than in years past. Maybe there is more hope for us in small towns to see more growth.
Means and motivation for the vacation home purchases in 2010 were: Vacations/family retreats: 84%, Used as a principal residence in future: 34%, Rental Property: 27%, Investment purposes: 25%, For family member/friend: 14%, Had extra money: 11%, Tax benefits: 9%.
Targeting retirees and vacation homebuyers is still a good marketing strategy especially with the aging population of baby boomers retiring in record numbers every day. Now that home values have dropped in many markets coupled with the extremely low mortgage interest rates, I think this trend might increase.
Those that have influence in small towns across the country could do themselves a favor to do more to attract retirees and vacation home buyers that could really help stimulate their local economy. Key attractions for these individuals include large bodies of water, mountains and rivers but maybe just a simpler lifestyle is part of this?
Data Sources: The numbers above were from The Wall Street Journal, Monday Oct 31, 2011 page R7 that got their data from the National Association of Realtors.
Posted by Sam Thompson
Senior Loan Officer
Southern Trust Mortgage - 910-852-9415
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