Secondary home markets have been the shining stars of the pandemic due to Americans’ new ability to telecommute, a desire for more space, and more affordable areas. According to Redfin, the demand for second homes leapt 100% in October of last year compared to the previous year and is double the demand for primary homes during the same time period. SmartAsset crunched the numbers for nearly 400 metros to find the hottest secondary home markets right now. Six out of the 10 top-ranking secondary markets are near the beach, says SmartAsset, and the Midwest unfortunately does not make the list at all.
1. Ocean City, NJ
Ocean City, New Jersey claims first place in our study, with 63.45% of its mortgages being taken out for secondary homes. This means that 559 out of 881 total mortgages in 2019 were for secondary residences.
2. Barnstable Town, MA
Barnstable Town, Massachusetts had 2,188 new mortgages taken out in 2019. While the majority of those were for primary residences, 865 mortgages were for secondary homes, accounting for 39.53% of the total.
3. Salisbury, DE-MD
The Salisbury metro area covers parts of Delaware and Maryland. It had 2,594 new mortgages in 2019. And 39.40%, or 1,022 of them, were taken out for secondary homes.
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