Second-home purchases in the U.S. show signs of pulling back in the years after their pandemic peak, with more than half of national volume currently concentrated in eight states.
In 2024, the total number of second homes came in at 6.2 million, representing 4.3% of total housing stock, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by
The decline points to cooling demand compared to the COVID-19 era, when remote work became the norm for many professionals, leading to interest in ownership of secondary properties. NAHB's analysis focused solely on owner-occupied homes, which qualified for a mortgage interest deduction, and excluded investment or rental properties.
Although second homes are most commonly
"A closer look at county-level data shows that the concentration of second homes is not simply restricted to conventional locations like beachfront areas," its researchers said.
In 738 counties across all 50 states, second homes comprised at least 10% of the local housing stock, while they made up 20% or more in 272 counties. In 21 counties spread across fourteen states, they accounted for a whopping 50% or more of total inventory.
Where second units are most common
More than half of inventory was concentrated in just eight states, according to the analysis. Secondary residency was most common in Florida, which had 15.2% of the U.S. total with 943,881 units. The Sunshine State was followed by California, New York, Texas and Michigan.
Counties that contained the most second-home volume with 25,000 or more units tended to be found closer to dense metropolitan areas. Most of the top 10 counties on a unit-volume basis were located in Arizona, Florida, California, Massachusetts and New York.
The effect on homeownership costs
Second-home buyers drove a noticeable spike in property values between 2020 and 2023 in affected rural communities that are popular as holiday destinations, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies reported late last year.
An influx of purchases in such areas led property values to leap an average of 46.8% over the three-year period, pricing out some local year-round residents from homeownership. By comparison, in the three years prior to the pandemic, housing costs in the same communities rose by only 17.4%.
The affordability challenges resulting from waves of second-home buyers are reaching the political stage, with pressure growing in some states to either curb outside transactions or provide monetary assistance for locals wishing to purchase for the first time.
In vacation-destination counties of Maine, more than 64% of local households currently fall below the homeownership affordability threshold to qualify for a median-priced unit, a state representative and real estate agent said earlier this year. In response, Rep. Wayne Farrin proposed a bill that would
In neighboring New Hampshire, lawmakers this year also proposed various property tax bills, including a proposal that would double the current rate for owners of homes that sit unoccupied for at least six months each year.
