Some Of The Best Places To Buy A Vacation Home Are In North Carolina
What makes the perfect vacation home? That can be a personal decision. It’s often a place you have a connection to. For most people, it needs to be close to…
What makes the perfect vacation home? That can be a personal decision. It's often a place you have a connection to. For most people, it needs to be close to home and easily accessible. It should be somewhere you can relax but also with plenty of fun activities. And of course, the price has to be practical for your lifestyle and income. Vacation rental management platform Vacasa, just released its fifth annual Top 25 Best Places to Buy a Vacation Home report this week. And this year, several North Carolina destinations ranked as one of the best places to buy a vacation home. Locations are ranked on capitalization (cap) rate, or rate of return on your investment.
Some notable findings from the report:
- Rising home prices open up new top markets. While vacation rentals in the most popular vacation destinations can still deliver healthy returns for homeowners, climbing median home prices are affecting cap rates in several of our past top markets. The upside? That cap rate compression gives buyers even more options to consider. There are over a dozen new markets on the list this year.
- Inventory is catching up with demand. After several years of historically high demand—coupled with historically low inventory—the real estate market is stabilizing. And inventory is catching up. That’s good news for buyers who have more opportunity to regain some leverage in what is still, predominantly, a seller’s market.
- Still trending – beachfront road trips. According to our 2022 Vacation Rental Buyer Report, short-term rental buyers are most interested in beach markets, up 10% over 2021.
- A price point for every buyer. The 2022 Vacation Rental Buyer Report also shows that younger buyers are now the majority of vacation home purchasers, and millennials and Gen Z are willing to spend a bit more than the older generations—with budgets often over $400,000.
The Best Places To Buy A Vacation Home Including Three In North Carolina
25. Hilton Head Island, SC
Cap Rate: 6.3%
Median Home Sale Price: $688,000
24. Port St Joe, FL
Cap Rate: 6.4%
Median Home Sale Price: $500,000
23. Hatteras Island, NC
Cap Rate: 6.4%
Median Home Sale Price: $850,000
22. Dauphin Island, AL
Cap Rate: 6.4%
Median Home Sale Price: $775,000
21. Depoe Bay, OR
Cap Rate: 6.4%
Median Home Sale Price: $486,000
20. Bradenton, FL
Cap Rate: 6.5%
Median Home Sale Price: $436,450
19. Nashville, TN
Cap Rate: 6.6%
Median Home Sale Price: $470,000
18. Westport, WA
Cap Rate: 6.7%
Median Home Sale Price: $446,547
17. Nags Head, NC
Cap Rate: 6.7%
Median Home Sale Price: $887,000
16. Savannah, GA
Cap Rate: 6.8%
Median Home Sale Price: $300,000
15. Boothbay, ME
Cap Rate: 6.9%
Median Home Sale Price: $413,000
14. Daytona, FL
Cap Rate: 7.0%
Median Home Sale Price: $260,500
13. Tucson, AZ
Cap Rate: 7.1%
Median Home Sale Price: $340,000
12. Frankfort, MI
Cap Rate: 7.3%
Median Home Sale Price: $340,000
11. Cape Coral, FL
Cap Rate: 7.3%
Median Home Sale Price: $436,475
10. Gulf Shores, AL
Cap Rate: 7.5%
Median Home Sale Price: $437,250
9. Sylva, NC
Cap Rate: 7.7%
Median Home Sale Price: $333,000
8. Saugatuck, MI
Cap Rate: 7.8%
Median Home Sale Price: $510,000
7. Phoenix, AZ
Cap Rate: 7.8%
Median Home Sale Price: $470,000
6. Fort Lauderdale, FL
Cap Rate: 8.5%
Median Home Sale Price: $490,250
5. Okaloosa Island, FL
Cap Rate: 9.0%
Median Home Sale Price: $425,000
4. Corolla, NC
Cap Rate: 10.2%
Median Home Sale Price: $930,000
3. Palm Coast, FL
Cap Rate: 103.%
Median Home Sale Price: $354,000
2. Port Aransas, TX
Cap Rate: 10.7%
Median Home Sale Price: $295,000
1. Lake Anna, VA
Cap Rate: 12.2%
Median Home Sale Price: $435,000
Methodology
To determine its ranking of top vacation rental markets, Vacasa analyzed home sales and vacation rental performance data from the last 12 months for vacation destinations throughout the country where Vacasa and its licensed subsidiaries manage at least 50 units and there are 250+ non-Vacasa managed vacation rentals. To determine average gross rental revenue (homeowner revenue made from bookings, excluding any fees) for a market, we averaged actual performance data for Vacasa managed units in the past 12 months and adjusted that number to reflect assumed usage by the owner. To calculate average cap rate, we considered the averages of the following in each market: property taxes, utilities, insurance, and property management fees.
