Second homes and vacation homes are on the rise all over the United States and Sandbridge Beach is no different. According to the National Association of Realtors, Second-home buyers from Cape Cod, Miami and Lake Tahoe, are returning to the housing market as stock prices, job growth and low interest rates boost purchasing and consumer confidence. In the U.S. vacation-property sales jumped 57 percent last year to an estimated $1.13 million, a record in data going back to 2003. Last year vacation homes accounted for 21 percent of all transactions, the most since the National Association of Realtors survey was first conducted 12 years ago.
Buyers are going for property that is typically 200 miles away from their primary residence. About 40 percent of purchases were in beach areas, 19 percent were in the country and 17 percent were in the mountains.
Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at Realtors® said, “We knew the fundamentals for vacation-home sales were greatly improving in 2014, I did not expect it would be this big of an increase. It shows the buyers perceive that economic conditions will be solid for upcoming years.”