Salem Solomon, Contributing writer- Tampa Bay Business Journal
The U.S. saw a jump in the vacation home market in 2013, which is particularly good news for Florida’s real estate sector and businesses that rely on tourism.
Sales of vacation homes rose 30% to 717,000 homes last year, the National Association of Realtors reported. Overall, vacation home sales accounted for 13 percent of the market, which is the largest percentage since 2006.
The median price of vacation homes rose to $168,700, a 12.5 percent increase, CNN said. The market for second homes was aided by the strong performance of the stock market. In 2013, the S&P 500 rose by 30 percent, its best performance in 16 years, CNN said.
The reasons given by buyers for purchasing a vacation home varied. About 5 percent sold the properties before the end of the year and the same amount reported planning to do so within the next 12 months. But about 31 percent of buyers said they plan to use the homes as a primary residence after retirement, CNN said.
About 25 percent also said they would rent out the house at least for part of the year.