Who buys second-homes and how much do they pay for them? There are two very different markets-people who buy for investment purposes and those who want a vacation-home, says Al Mansell, chief executive officer of coldwell Banker residential brokerage in Salt Lake City. Marsell is president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
A recent study by second home buyers by NAR underscores the differences. Most vacation-home buyers (86%) do not rent out their property while most investment buyers do (79%). The average vacation- home buyer is 55 years old and earned $71,000 in 2003 while the investment-property buyer's median age is 47 with earnings of $85,700, according to the NAR's profile of second home buyers. The typical vacation home was a single family detached home with a median size of 1290 square feet, while the investment home averaged 1,700 square feet in size. The median price of a vacation-home purchased between mid-2003 and mid-2004, according to the 2005 report, was $190,000 as opposed to $148,000 for investment-homes.
Half the buyers said their vacation-home was smaller than their primary residence, 13 percent said it was the same size and 37 percent said it was larger. Nearly one of five second-homes will become primary residnces after retirment, the report adds. But no matter what their purpose in buying a second-home, 92 percent see their property as a good investent.
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