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The Hottest Secondary Home Markets in the U.S. – 2019 Edition

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secondary home market

A second home can be a cherished retreat but also a savvy investment. Buying another residence in a booming housing market in particular can help diversify your holdings and introduce another way for your assets to increase in value. And if you’re renting out the property, you can enjoy an extra revenue stream to boost your savings. But if you’re looking for a secondary home market in which to invest, you probably want to know which ones are most popular. Below, we look at data to rank the hottest secondary home markets in America.

To complete our rankings, we compared two metrics: the total number of home purchases and the number of home purchases made for non-primary residences. The Data and Methodology section below details where we got our data and how we put it together.

Key Findings

  • Vacation homes reign supreme – Many of the top places to buy a secondary home are vacation markets. The Jersey Shore, Cape Cod and Maui top the charts.
  • Midwest not a popular second-home spot – Eight of the 10 cities with the lowest share of second homes are in the Midwest. At the very bottom is Elkhart, Indiana, where just under 6% of homes are non-primary residences.
secondary home markets

1. Ocean City, NJ

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 2,865
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 744
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 79.38%

2. Salisbury, MD-DE

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 4,354
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 3,665
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 54.30%

3. Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 2,912
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 2,566
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 53.16%

4. Barnstable Town, MA

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 2,648
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 2,481
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 51.63%

5. Panama City, FL

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 1,710
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 1,693
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 50.25%

6. Hinesville, GA

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 116
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 138
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 45.67%

7. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 5,919
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 7,061
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 45.60%

8. Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 939
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 1,148
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 44.99%

9. Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 1,268
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 1,699
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 42.74%

10. Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ

secondary home markets

Number of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 1,134
Number of Mortgages for Primary Residences: 1,646
Percentage of Mortgages for Secondary Residences: 40.79%

secondary home market

Data and Methodology

To find the places with the hottest secondary home markets in the U.S., we looked at data for 402 metro areas. We compared them across the following two metrics:

  • Number of homes purchased as non-primary residences.
  • Total number of homes purchased.

We divided the number of homes purchased as non-primary residences by the total number of home purchases for each metro area. The metro area with the highest number of non-primary residence purchases as a percentage of all purchases ranked first. The place with the lowest percentage ranked last.

Data for both metrics comes from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Database and is from 2017.

Tips for Investing in the Housing Market

  • Pay attention to taxes – If you are used to paying property taxes on only one home, you may be surprised to find that property taxes can vary significantly from one state to another. In Hawaii, one state that has a representative in this top 10, the average effective property tax rate is 0.27%. This is approximately one-tenth of New Jersey’s effective property tax rate, which is 2.4%.
  • Ask an expert – Even if you are wealthy you want to be absolutely sure you can afford to buy a second home. If you are not sure where home buying, vacationing and retirement all fit into your financial plan, why not talk to a financial advisor? SmartAsset’s financial advisor matching tool can help you find one. We will connect you with up to three local financial advisors who fit your investing needs.

Questions about our study? Contact us at press@smartasset.com

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