Home sweet homes

The economy may be facing some challenges, but that didn’t stop many buyers from investing in vacation properties last year; especially at Smith Mountain Lake. NAR’s 2010 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey shows vacation home sales rose 7.9 percent to 553,000 in 2009, compared to 513,000 in 2008.

Ninety percent of survey respondents plan to use their second home as a family vacation retreat. Only one in four plan to rent it to tenants. Twenty-six percent intend to make the property their primary residence in the future.

The median sale price of a vacation home was $169,000 in 2009, compared with $150,000 in 2008.

In contrast to vacation homes, investment home sales fell 15.9 percent to 940,000 in 2009 from 1.12 million in 2008. The median transaction price of an investment property purchased in 2009 was $105,000, compared with $108,000 in 2008.

Talk to a Prudential Waterfront Properties Realtor about the second-home market at Smith Mountain Lake or surrounding areas.