Parts of California are still seeing more people buying second homes
May 15, 2025
- New mortgages for second homes, often thought of as vacation homes, fell to a 6-year low in 2024.
- High interest rates and home insurance costs are keeping Americans from buying second homes, especially in Florida where demand has fallen the fastest.
- West Palm Beach, New Brunswickand Riversidehad the highest shares of second-home mortgages.
Americans have been increasingly hesistant to buy a second home, following high mortgage rates and home insurance costs.
There were 86,604 mortgage originations for second homes in 2024, the lowest level in six years, acccording to an analysis by real-estate brokerage Redfin, which reviewedHome Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data.
Redfin said second-home mortgages accounted for just 2.6% of all new mortgages in 2024, the lowest share on record, and down from a peak of 5% in 2020.
Most people arent buying vacation homes at all because mortgage rates and insurance costs especially for waterfront homes and condos have skyrocketed,”said Lindsay Garcia, a Redfin Premier agent in Fourt Lauderdale, Fla., in a statement.”Plus, people know theyre unlikely to earn much revenue from listing on Airbnb now that occupancy rates are down.
Some people are still buying homes and they are typicallyrich, middle aged and white, Redfin said.
While some wealthy cash buyers are still purchasing second homes, they are much more likely to make a low-ball offer or request concessions than they used to be,” Garcia said.
Where is demand for second homes falling?
Florida is seeing the fastest decline in second home purchases, despite remaining one of the most popular destinations for vacation homes, Redfin said.
Redfin said the Sunshine State is suffering a decline in second-home purchases largely because of soaring home insurance costs, property-tax costs and homeowners association (HOA) fees.
Miamihad the biggest decline in second-home mortgage originations among the 50 most-populous metros, with a 32.2% drop in 2024 from 2023, followed by Orlando (-28.4%), Fort Lauderdale (-28%), West Palm Beach (-23.7%) and Tampa (-20.9%).
Still, West Palm Beach remained the most popular metro for second homes, accounting for 5.6% of new mortgages in 2024, followed by New Brunswick, N.J. (4.2%), Riverside, Calif. (3.5%), Las Vegas, Nev. (3.2%) and Nassau County, N.Y. (3%) in the rest of the top five.
Broadly, mortgages for second homesfell in 30 ofof the 50 most-populous U.S. metros, but increased the most in Detroit, Mich. (+26%), San Francisco, Calif. (+17%) and San Jose, Calif (+15.9%), Redfin said.
The least popular metro for second homes was Montgomery County, Pa., with 0.4% of new mortgages in 2024, followed by Oakland, Calif. (0.5%), Forth Worth, Texas (0.6%) and Detroit, Mich. (0.6%) in the rest of the bottom five.
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