Sales of vacation homes were up 10.1% last year, accounting for 11% of all home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors. The surge in demand helped lift median vacation home prices by 24% year over year to $150,000. Prices of vacation homes are still relative bargains, and well below bubble-era highs. In 2005, for example, the median price for a vacation home was $204,100, a 36% premium to 2012’s prices, according to NAR. Diane Saatchi, a real estate agent in the Hamptons on Long Island, said the vacation home market there “is on fire.” Many buyers who had been waiting for the market to hit bottom re-emerged in 2012 — and they’re out in force this year.
CNNMoney April 2, 2013
