Purchasing
- Your first home
- Your next home and move
- An investment property
- A vacation home
Refinancing
- To tap your home equity
- To save money
- To avoid rate increases
- To lower monthly payments
Home Equity
- Loans and lines of credit
- Finance major expenses
- Consolidate Debt
- Invest
Second-Home Trends
Although many people
complain that the real estate market
has peaked and interest rates are too
high, a new survey conducted by HomePages.com,
a division of HouseValues, reveals results
about prospective
second home buyers. Realty Times
posted an article on July 18, 2006,
“HouseValues Survey Reveals Interesting
Trends among Second Home Buyers,”
that describes the results of the survey.
According to the 2006 National Association
of Realtors Profile of Second-Home Owners,
second-home owners are defined as those
who “own one or more
residential properties, in addition
to a primary residence, and who use
these properties either for vacation
or investment purposes.”
Out of the 1300 consumers surveyed,
65 percent were men and 35 percent were
women. “With plenty of disposable
income to spare, 21 percent . . . said
they are considering purchasing a second
home within a year, while another 42
percent say they're considering buying
within the next two to six years.”
That is a high percentage considering
the supposed cooling status
of the real estate market. “It
appears the economy and housing are
hardly going down the tubes.”
“In fact, ‘vacation and
investment homes remain a strong and
prominent part of the real estate market,
both as a means of providing an escape
and providing supplemental short-term
and long-term income,’ says Ian
Morris, chief executive officer of HouseValues.”
About 25 percent of the respondents
are considering purchasing a second
home for investment purposes, while
22 percent are planning on using their
second home for recreation and family
vacations.
Upon purchasing a second home, whether
for business or pleasure, location is
usually top priority.
“Forty percent of respondents
said features such as water or mountains
would not be a factor because they intended
to buy for investment purposes. Among
those who do consider geography an important
factor in where they buy, 36 percent
listed proximity to water as key, followed
by mountains (17 percent), golf courses
(5 percent) and the desert (2 percent).”
An interesting note is that 29 percent
of prospective second-home buyers said
that they did not mind flying on an
airline to reach their second home.
While an expected 43 percent said they
would like their second home to be under
an hour’s drive from their first
home.
These results demonstrate that the real
estate market is not as dormant
as some may think. Buying a second home
is still a
great investment for the family
or financial purposes.