IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
U.S. homebuyers took out 86,604 mortgages for second homes in 2024, a five-percent year-over-year drop, and the lowest number of second mortgages since 2018, a recent report as found.
That data includes the purchases of second homes, primary homes and investment properties from 2018 to 2024, according to Redfin, a residential real estate brokerage in Seattle.
Second-home mortgages accounted for 2.6 percent of all mortgages in 2024, the lowest percentage ever and down from 2.8 percent in 2023.
The terms “second home” and “vacation home” are used interchangeably.
Despite the six-year low, the rate of decline in second-home purchases fell last year from 2022 and 2023, when the year-over-year drop was 42 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
Several reasons were given for the decline in second-home purchases, including cost, the fact that they’re not a necessity, and a cooling rental market that makes them more difficult to lease, according to Redfin.
