Best Second Home Markets in US

Brits Staying Closer to Home for Second Home Purchases

Brits reject far-flung destinations in flight to safety‏

British overseas home buyers are reverting back to more traditional second home destinations, according to a survey of 1200 second home owners by Savills International.

During the overseas property boom, the proportion of Brits buying outside of Western Europe grew significantly as buyers became motivated by the potential for capital gains.  However, since the market turned in September 2008, buyers have returned to the traditional favourites of Spain, France, Portugal and Italy.

“In 2010, the overseas second home market will be characterised by cash-rich, lifestyle buyers benefiting from lower prices in traditional, established holiday home hotspots.” Says Charles Weston-Baker, Head of Savills International.

The survey data also confirms that 2009 was one of the worst years for the industry.  70% of respondents invested in overseas property between 2003 and 2008 but just 2% had in 2009.

Rebecca Gill, research analyst at Savills International comments. “Whilst UK overseas home ownership has doubled since 2001 recent global recessionary trends have seen take-up levels dramatically slow. Factors such as fewer overseas holidays, reduced leisure spend capacity and financing availability, unfavourable exchange rates and declining house prices have impacted second home purchasing activity.”

20% of owners plan more purchases

The positive news is that a fifth of respondents said they are considering or planning additional holiday home purchases in the future.  The top ten destinations being considered were France, Spain, Portugal, the US, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Morocco, Brazil and Turkey.

However, further property price falls, better mortgage availability and a strengthening of sterling against the Euro are all necessary conditions before we see the market return to anywhere near the transaction volumes of 2007.

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Unemployment at 3%? It all depends on how you slice it... Posted: 15 Feb 2010 10:31 PM PST There is an interesting post on the Matrix blog that looks at the rate of unemployment across income levels.  As you might expect, unemployment is highest among the lowest earners. What might be surprising is how low the level of unemployment is at the upper income levels.  Percentage Unemployment by Income Level As Jonathan observes in his post, it is easy to think of measures like the unemployment rate as a single measure, an "across the board phenomenon."  As usual though, things tend to get more interesting and useful when you drill-down to the details.  We hear the overall unemployment number tossed around all the time in the  media. There are so many ways that one can slice and dice it, but as a luxury agent income is a useful measure and it is probably interesting to know that unemployment is so low at the upper income levels.

Aspen Real Estate Brokerages

The  Aspen Real Estate market has been enormously affected by the contracting US economy and so have the major real estate brokerages in Aspen. There is a new 'kid on the block' with what he thinks is a better real estate 'mouse trap' and marketing program for real estate. He's the full article............

US: New player on Aspen real estate scene - Aspen Times

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Million-dollar homes in California suffer further sales drop in 2009

The number sold in the state falls 23.8%, to 18,621 from 24,436 in 2008, for a fourth year of decline in a row.

REAL ESTATE

February 05, 2010|By Alejandro Lazo

Sales of California homes priced at $1 million or more tumbled for a fourth consecutive year in 2009, according to a report released Thursday.
The number of million-dollar-plus homes sold dropped 23.8% to 18,621 in 2009 from 24,436 in 2008, according to San Diego real estate research firm MDA DataQuick.