Almost 6 percent of American households own a vacation home, a recent survey shows, up a little more than 1 percent since the last detailed study of recreation property was done 17 years ago.
The new findings: 5.5 million families own vacation homes or timeshares and another 2.1 million own vacant land or campsites. That means approximately 1 of 13 households in the United States owns vacation property of some type.
Most people who own second homes or land are married and middle-aged. Their median income is $46,500, but as might be expected, those with high incomes are much more likely than the average earner to own a vacation house.
The study – 5,636 telephone interviews done in March and April this year by Ragatz Associates of Eugene, Ore. – found the vacation home ownership breaks down this way:
– Detached house or cabin, 51 percent
– Condo or townhouse, 19.6 percent
– Vacant land, 18.4 percent
– Timeshare weeks, 15.6 percent
– Campsite or campground, 10.2 percent
– Mobile home, 3.8 percent
– Other, 4.1 percent
(The percentages exceed 100 percent because some households own more than one type of property.)
The percentage of second-property owners with a detached house – 51 percent – is about the same as it was 17 years ago, according to the study, but the proportion owning a condominium has soared from 3 percent in 1973 to almost 20 percent this year.
At the same time, the percentage owning vacant land has fallen dramatically, from 36 percent in 1973 to just over 18 percent now. Part of the reason, the study said, may be that families abandoned the relatively worthless rural land plots that many bought during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Timesharing – buying the right to a week or two of vacation each year at a resort or other property – is new since 1973. Timeshare buyers accounted for 48 percent of all new second-home owners since 1973.
Florida is by far the most popular state for vacation property; it has 15 percent of the total, more than twice as many as second-ranked California. Michigan is No. 3.
While most of those who own a second home use it for recreation, almost 40 percent say they also consider the property an investment.
The study said that few detached vacation homes are available for less than $50,000 but that the median purchase price reported by those actually owning some kind of vacation property is only $13,000.
”This low purchase price reflects properties which have been held for long periods of time, as well as the many households who own timeshares or other partial shares, campsites, small lots and other low-cost types of properties,” the study said.
”In addition, many recreational property owners – some 12.5 percent- inherited one or more of their interests.”
The study found that many Americans who don`t own vacation homes would like to, preferably a detached house or a condominium.
Few were interested in timeshares (8 percent) or camping sites (7.1), even though that is what most people have been buying in recent years because they are most affordable.
”Clearly Americans are reluctant to accept these products as their preference,” the study said. ”Most Americans who want such property still yearn for the traditional second home or vacation cabin.”
The study also concluded that while 26 percent of households that do not own a second home would like to, it is unlikely that anywhere near that number ever will.
Ragatz Associates did the survey for three organizations that have an interest in vacation home sales: the National Association of Realtors, the American Resort and Residential Development Association and the International Foundation for Timesharing.
Because of the large size of the sample and its composition, Ragatz said, the count of households owning second homes should be accurate within plus or minus 0.7 percent.
Originally Published:
