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Vacation Homes Sales At Record Levels

Vacation Home Sales Up 57% in 2014 to Record 1.13 Million Sales

 

Vacation home sales shot up 57% in 2014 from a year prior, the largest increase since the National Association of Realtors began tracking the data in 2003.

 
Is the price reasonable?

Nearly 1.13 million vacation homes were purchased last year, surpassing the peak of 1.07 million in 2006, during the housing boom, according to the Realtors’ association. Vacation properties, defined as recreational property purchased primarily for use by the buyers or their families, accounted for 21% of all home sales last year, the largest share since the group began tracking the data. 

The median price for vacation homes fell 11% nationwide last year, which the association says was largely due to a greater volume of transactions involving smaller and lower-cost units, including condominiums and previously foreclosed-upon homes.

But in some popular destinations, prices were up significantly. In Napa County, Calif., the median sales price for vacation homes rose 16.7% in 2014 from a year prior, according to Redfin, a national brokerage based in Seattle.

Increases at the high end of the market have been steep, in some cases. On the island of Nantucket, Mass., 195 homes changed hands in 2014 and the median price increased by 15%, to $1.2 million, according to the Warren Group, a real-estate data firm based in Boston. There were 161 sales in 2013. The vast majority of sales there are vacation homes, says Warren Group Chief Executive Timothy Warren.

 

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By AnnaMaria Andrioti, April 3, 2015 10:32 a.m. ET