Vacation-Home Sales Soar as Stock Gains Boost Buyers

By Prashant Gopal Apr 2, 2014 11:55 AM ET

U.S. vacation-home sales jumped in 2013, making up the biggest market share in seven years, as the surging stock market gave affluent Americans a confidence boost.

Vacation properties accounted for 13 percent of all sales, the highest level since 2006, when the share was 14 percent, the National Association of Realtors reported today. The portion of investment sales, excluding purchases by institutional investors, fell to 20 percent from 24 percent in 2012 as prices rose and the supply of foreclosures dwindled.

“Growth in the equity markets has greatly benefited high-net-worth households, thereby providing the wherewithal and confidence to purchase recreational property,” Lawrence Yun, the Realtors group’s chief economist, said in a statement.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, which reached an all-time high yesterday, was up 179 percent from its 12-year low in March 2009. Vacation-home sales rose 30 percent last year to 717,000, while investment-home sales fell 8.5 percent to about 1.1 million transactions, the Realtors group said.

Sales of seasonal properties are down about a third from the 2006 peak of 1.07 million.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-02/u-s-vacation-home-sales-jumped-30-in-2013-realtors-group-says.html