Identifying the Prime (High-Growth) Vacation Markets
Once you decide what type of vacation living you desire-beach, ski resort, mountains, and so forth-identify the high-growth and, more important, the future high-growth vacation locations that appeal to you. This will take some time, energy, and resources on your part.
Hot Market Characteristics
What factors determine a hot vacation market? Why are some markets hot and others not? Once you decide what type of vacation environment you desire (golf community, skiing, etc.), there are several factors that I recommend when determining whether a particular vacation area is hot and will remain hot:
1. Migration trends
2. Supply of vacation homes
3. Price appreciation
4. Home sales growth
This is not difficult information to obtain for a particular vacation area. Local real estate agents should be able to provide you with most of this information.
Monitor the Hot-Market Lists
After typing vacation properties into the Google search engine (Google.com), you will find many magazine articles on hot vacation markets, with some of them offering a top vacation-market list. In addition, two of the more closely followed lists on vacation markets are offered by EscapeHomes.com and NeighborhoodScout.com. EscapeHomes.com created a list of the top ten second-home markets based on the quantity of site visitors' requests for information about locales, plus research and conversations with chambers of commerce and real estate agents. NeighborhoodScout.com pinpointed thirty emerging vacation-home markets from 23,000 coastal and mountain communities, based on six criteria: affordability (relative to surrounding area), peace and quiet, safety, educated neighbors, a mix of rental and owner-occupied homes, and excellent public schools.
EscapeHomes.com compiled its own list of the top ten emerging second-home markets nationwide:
Darby,MT
Fairmont, MN
Fergus Falls, MN
Gualala, CA
Kern River, CA
North Fork Valley, CO
Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ
Sisters, OR
Sitka, AL
Spearfish, SD
The following are NeighborhoodScout's top ten communities on the Atlantic/Gulf Coasts, the Pacific Coast, and in the Rocky Mountain region from north to south:
Atlantic/Gulf Coast Region
Bristol, ME
Narragansett, RI
Clinton, CT
Somers Point, NJ
Leonardtown, MD
Blufton, SC
Englewood, FL
Cape Coral, FL
Daphne, AL
Ocean Springs, MS
Pacific Coast Region
Juneau,AK
Oak Harbor,WA
Gold Beach, OR
Ferndale, CA
Gualala, CA
Los Osos, CA
Aliso Viejo, CA
Cambria, CA
Kaunakakai, HI
Captain Cook, HI
Rocky Mountain Region
Phillipsburg, MT
McLeod, MT
Craigmont, ID
Wallace, ID
Ten Sleep,WY
Saratoga, WY
Hanksville, UT
Woodland Park, CO
Bailey, CO
Pena Blanca, NM
My advice is to continually monitor these hot-vacation-market lists. Call the real estate agents (or e-mail them) in these markets and request some of the hot-market characteristics, such as home sales volume, home price appreciation, and the inventory of homes in that local vacation market. The markets may be hot now, but do they have staying power over the next five to ten years? No one has the definitive answer to this question, but the more information you gather, the more comfortable you will be when deciding on purchasing a vacation property.
EscapeHomes.com is perhaps the best-known and largest site devoted to helping buyers find vacation homes. Input the criteria that matter to you: lifestyle, price, type of vacation home, location. You'll be shown numerous listings that fit your specifications. It is an excellent way to begin a vacation home search before contacting a real estate agent. And again, you can always visit the nation's largest home listings Web site-REALTOR.com-to identify vacation locations and property types.