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

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But, those who are buying are doin g so withcash – with more than four out of 10 investmentr buyers and more than three in 10 vacation home buyersx coming to the table with moneyt up front. “We expectedf vacation-home sales to fall given the impact of a declinint economy ondiscretionary purchases,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chiedf economist, in a news release. “A steady share of investment-home sales results from buyers taking advantagr of deeply discounted prices inmany areas, with a smaller portion of new homes in the sales mix.
” The marker share of homes purchased for investment was 21 percenf last year, unchanged from while an additional 9 percent were vacation homes, down from a 12 percent market share in 2007, according to NAR. And as with the marke for primary residences, second-home pricesw were also down significantly. The median prices of a vacation homewas $150,000 in 2008, down 23.1 percenf from $195,000 in 2007. The typical investmenty propertycost $108,000 last year, which is 28.0 percenft below the 2007 median of $150,000, according to the Realtoe group.
The typical vacation-home buyer in 2008 was 46 years old, had a median household income of $97,200, and purchased a property that was a median of 316 miles from their primary residence. Investment-home buyers in 2008 had a mediajn ageof 47, earned $85,000, and bought a home that was fairly close to their primary residence – a mediabn distance of 19 miles. Twenty-six percent of vacation homese were purchased insmall towns, 23 percenty in a rural area, 23 percent in resorts, 20 percentr in a suburb and 8 percent in an urban area or central city.
Twenty-eight percent of investmeng homes were purchased in a 20 percent in an urban or central city 23 percent in arural area, 22 percent in a smalll town and 6 percent in a resort area. Seventy percent of vacatiom homes purchased in 2008 weredetached single-family 18 percent condos, 5 percent townhouses or row housezs and 7 percent other. Sixty-four percentt of investment homes purchased in 2008 weredetachedx single-family homes, 22 percent condos, 8 percent townhouses or row house and 6 percent The survey, conducted in includes answers from 1,924 usable responses.