In a way, vacation home owners are in the kitchen taking seconds when others haven’t even had firsts.
Business Insider reports that the inventory shortage, which has led to rising prices and rents, is being exacerbated by unavailable homes that are only used a few times a year.
Data from the Census Bureau and the National Association of Realtors says that one million homes are now held vacant for "personal reasons," an increase of 200,000 from four years ago.
"One factor contributing to low inventory levels are the significant numbers of vacant homes which are not for sale or rent," Matthew Pointon, a property economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note on Monday. "In particular, there are large numbers of properties vacant for reasons other than use as vacation homes or other occasional use."
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