WSJ
By
KRIS HUDSONApril 1, 2015 3:58 p.m. ETContinued stock-market gains and low interest rates drove sales of vacation homes to the highest level on record last year, putting one segment of the housing market above its prerecession peak.
The National Association of Realtors estimates that vacation-home sales amounted to 1.13 million properties last year, up a robust 57.4% from 2013, which itself marked a 30% increase from 2012.
Last year’s estimated tally topped the previous high from 2006 to become the biggest year for vacation-home sales volume since the Realtor association started tracking the market in 2003. Vacation homes accounted for 21% of all sales last year, the highest share since the survey’s inception.
The small sample size of the Realtor group’s survey, which was based on responses by just 1,971 people who bought U.S. homes in 2014, led some economists to posit that the results might be exaggerated. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, suggested that the gains in the report might “overstate the strength” of that market.
Still, Mr. Zandi noted that vacation-home sales account for one-fifth of all home sales and “that should more or less rise over the next five to 10 years” as the income and number of vacation-home buyers increases.
The Realtor association’s survey found that buyers last year had median household income of $94,380, up from $85,600 in 2013.
The number of buyers is likely to grow in the years ahead as 76 million-plus baby boomers advance in age and buy vacation homes that eventually will become retirement homes."
Link to WSJ article: Vacation-Home Sales Hit High, Realtor Group Says - WSJ:
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