Timely Reasons to Buy a Vacation Home
If you’ve been dreaming of buying a cabin in the woods, a cottage on the beach or some other retreat, you have compelling reasons to pull the trigger. As coronavirus cases surge in parts of the country, being able to shelter away from crowded areas has a lot of appeal. To keep employees healthy, some companies continue to allow telework, reducing the need for workers to be near their offices. Why not plug in with a view of the ocean or mountains?
What’s more, mortgage interest rates have sunk to record lows. In mid July, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 2.98%—the first time the rate has fallen below 3% in the nearly 50 years that Freddie Mac has been keeping records.
But be prepared to compete with other buyers for the house you want. Following spring shutdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19, buyers emerged hungry to live in locations and houses with more space and other features suited to spending a lot of time at home. Sellers have been slower to list their homes, however, causing a shortage in many areas of the country. In June, U.S. housing inventory fell by 27% from the same period a year before, according to Realtor.com.
Many popular vacation spots are no exception to the trend of tight inventory and pent-up buyer demand. In late June, Nancy Reither, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in , said that the city had about 340 listings, compared with about 1,500 at the same time a
