National Association of Realtors: Second-home sales fall - Baltimore Business Journal:

efimtsovavadan.blogspot.com
But, those who are buying are doingy so withcash – with more than four out of 10 investmen buyers and more than three in 10 vacation home buyersw coming to the table with moneu up front. “We expected vacation-home sales to fall given the impacty of a declining economy on discretionary saidLawrence Yun, NAR chief in a news release. “A steady share of investment-homde sales results from buyers taking advantage of deeplgy discounted prices inmany areas, with a smaller portion of new homez in the sales mix.
” The markett share of homes purchased for investmen was 21 percent last year, unchanged from 2007, while an additional 9 percent were vacation homes, down from a 12 percengt market share in 2007, according to NAR. And as with the markeg for primary residences, second-home prices were also down The median price of a vacatioj homewas $150,000 in 2008, down 23.1 percenf from $195,000 in 2007. The typical investmenr propertycost $108,000 last year, which is 28.0 percenft below the 2007 median of $150,000, according to the Realtot group.
The typical vacation-home buyer in 2008 was 46 years old, had a median household incom eof $97,200, and purchasedc a property that was a mediann of 316 miles from their primargy residence. Investment-home buyers in 2008 had a mediamn ageof 47, earned $85,000, and bought a home that was fairlyh close to their primary residence – a median distancr of 19 miles. Twenty-six percent of vacation homes were purchasee insmall towns, 23 percent in a rural 23 percent in resorts, 20 perceng in a suburb and 8 percentr in an urban area or central city.
Twenty-eight percengt of investment homes were purchased ina suburb, 20 percent in an urbam or central city area, 23 percenyt in a rural area, 22 percent in a smalll town and 6 percent in a resortf area. Seventy percent of vacation homes purchased in 2008 weredetachedf single-family homes, 18 percent condos, 5 percenft townhouses or row houses and 7 percent Sixty-four percent of investment homes purchasedc in 2008 were detache d single-family homes, 22 percentg condos, 8 percent townhouses or row housea and 6 percent other. The survey, conductee in March, includes answers from 1,924 usable responses.