New Construction Booming in Second Home Markets

The National Association of Home Builders says the pandemic has fueled a suburban shift, but also greatly benefitted traditional second home markets. Second home markets are identified based on the proportion of housing that are non-rental and not a principal residence. In the third quarter, single-family construction in these markets advanced by an average four-quarter rate of 13.6% while other counties grew by a 10.5% pace. Even multifamily construction increased in second home markets with a 11.1% increase while multifamily construction declined 0.9% nationally.

Examining second home markets through the lens of the HBGI’s regional population density-based geographies shows where these traditional vacation markets are located. The data find a greater proportion of second home markets in less densely populated HBGI regional geographies, such as small towns (“micro counties) and rural areas (“non-metro / non-micro counties”). The overlay of high-concentration, second home counties by regional geographies is shown below:

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