Deals for vacation homes took a big dip last year

Vacation home buyers hit pause in 2016 while real estate investors turned up the volume.

That is according to a just-released survey of second-home and investment property buyers by the National Association of Realtors.

Highlights from the survey:

• Vacation and investment buyers last year were more likely to take out a mortgage and use their property as a short-term rental.

• Last year there were an estimated 721,000 vacation home purchases, a 21.6 percent decline from 2015 and the lowest since 2013 (717,000).

• Sales of investment homes increased 4.5 percent to 1.14 million.

• The median price of a vacation home was $200,000, a 4.2 percent increase from 2015 and the highest since 2006 when the median also hit $200,000.

• Only 28 percent of vacation buyers paid cash (compared with 38 percent in 2015).

• Vacation sales accounted for 12 percent of all transactions in 2016, the lowest share since 2012 (11 percent) and down from 16 percent in 2015.

• The portion of investment sales remained unchanged for the third consecutive year at 19 percent, and owner-occupied purchases increased to 70 percent (65 percent in 2015).

• Because of the popularity of short-term rentals, the south was the most popular region for buyers.

• Top two reasons for buying a vacation home: Use for vacations or as a family retreat (42 percent) and for future retirement (18 percent).

• In several markets in the South and West — the two most popular destinations for vacation home buyers — house prices have soared because demand has outstripped supply.

• With fewer bargain-priced properties to choose from and a growing number of traditional buyers, finding a home for vacation purposes became more difficult and less affordable last year.

• The volatility of the financial markets in late 2015 through the early part of last year put a dent in sales as some affluent households with money in stocks refrained from buying or delayed plans until after the election.