by Calculated Risk on 4/05/2006 04:03:00 PM

CORRECTION: see here for corrections. Thanks for the comments. The vacation / investment homes is a share of all homes (existing and new), not just existing homes.

The NAR reported that second home sales accounted for 39.9% of all sales in 2005. The percentage seems incorrect.

NAR reported 7.075 million sales in 2005. NAR reported 1.02 million vacation homes and 2.32 million investment homes. That gives 3.34 million second homes or 47.2%.


Click on graph for larger image.

Using the NAR sales numbers, this graph shows vacation and second home sales for the last three years. Purchases of primary residences actually fell slightly in 2005, while vacation, and especially investment purchases, rose sharply. This appears to be evidence of significant speculation.