by W. J. Mencarow
According to the 2013 National Association of Realtors (NAR) annual Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey (narsurvey), last year the share of investment home buyers was at its second highest level since 2005 at 24 percent. The share of buyers who purchased a primary residence rose from 61 percent to 65 percent. The share of vacation home buyers rose slightly, to an overall share of 11 percent.
The average national sales price for investment houses rose for the second straight year to $115,000. 24 percent of the properties were in foreclosure and another 23 percent were short sales. 47 percent of investors plan to purchase another house.
Twenty percent of vacation buyers purchased a home in foreclosure, while 15 percentpurchased a short sale. Vacation buyers expect to own their vacation home for 10 years.
Seventy-eight percent of vacation buyers and investment buyers reported that now is a good time to purchase real estate. Among primary residence buyers, 22 percent are likely to buy an investment property and 21 percent are likely to buy a vacation property in the next two years.
Of particular interest to note investors and brokers is that 49 percent of investors paid cash (no change from the previous year), as did 46 percent of vacation home buyers (a rise of 4 percent) and 25 percent of primary home buyers (no change).
The NAR survey makes interesting reading: narsurvey