This article was reprinted with permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second home owners and those who wish to be. Subscribe On here. © 2021. All rights reserved.
Big city residents in the United States trying to cope with the pandemic have shifted their search for vacation homes from trendy locations to remote areas. Call it extreme social distance.
The move – for small and rural cities – is mainly due to price and because more middle class families, not just the wealthy, are eager to join the movement, said Monica Neubauer, real estate broker and host of a podcast for the National Association of realtors.
In established vacation home markets, such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming or Nantucket, Massachusetts, prices went “beyond what normal people can afford,” said Neubauer. Alternatively, she said, more people are looking for small towns close to state or national parks that are accessible and yet offer some refuge from urban life.
The Escape Home wanted to know which specific locations are most popular with buyers and potential buyers. So, we asked Redfin RDFN,
the technology-driven real estate broker, to help us find out. The results are somewhat surprising.
Redfin looked at the micropolitan areas, which the government defines as a county that has at least one city with a population between 10,000 and 50,000, often surrounded by even smaller cities or towns.
Redfin also considered rural areas. The company’s economists have compiled a list of areas that had the highest percentage increase in searches on Redfin.com in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter of 2019.
The first place on the list turned out to be Marshall County, Alabama, which includes Lake Guntersville, Alabama’s largest lake with more than 69,000 acres and home to a booming vacation home market powered by the thriving city of Huntsville. The area includes Lake Guntersville Resort State Park, which is located along the banks of the Tennessee River and is considered a resort style retreat.
The second most surprising finding on the list is the number of times New Hampshire sites have appeared. In fact, it appears that the “Live Free or Die” state is winning the hearts, minds and wallets of an increasing number of families looking for change. Of the top 20 locations, six were in New Hampshire, more than any other state.
Redfin also compiled a list of micropolitan areas with the highest overall number of searches in the fourth quarter. Of the top 20 locations on that list, Washington dominated with seven locations, but New Hampshire came in second with four locations.
|
Small towns and counties with the biggest change in page views |
Percentage change 2019-2020 |
|
Mashall, Ala. |
2817% |
|
Dodge, Nebraska |
707% |
|
Douglas, Minnesota. |
637% |
|
Otter Tail, Minn. |
583% |
|
Klamath, Ore. |
567% |
|
Jasper, Iowa |
400% |
|
Cherokee, Okla. |
379% |
|
Cheshire, NH |
372% |
|
Becker, Minn. |
368% |
|
Essex, Vt. |
362% |
|
Harlan, Ky. |
360% |
|
Grafton, NH |
348% |
|
Sullivan, NH |
339% |
|
Belknap, NH |
336% |
|
Franklin, Kan. |
330% |
|
Wayne, Ind. |
322% |
|
Beltrami, Minnesota. |
316% |
|
Merrimack, NH |
311% |
|
Carroll, NH |
311% |
* Percentage change in page views from the fourth quarter of 2019
Source: Redfin
Why New Hampshire?
Buyers are migrating to New Hampshire for several reasons. The state is classified as one of the least taxed states in the country. There is no state income tax or sales tax. It also has favorable housing laws, a key issue for wealthy retirees. According to FBI crime statistics, New Hampshire has one of the lowest rates of violent crime. Only two other states, both in New England – Vermont and Maine – had lower crime rates than New Hampshire last year.
House prices, of course, are also taken into account. In Cheshire County, home to several colleges and located on the southern border with Massachusetts, the average price of a home was $ 272,000 in December, an increase of almost 24% compared to December 2019, according to New Hampshire Realtors Association. Sales volume grew by 30%.
Redfin data shows that the number of page views for Cheshire has increased 372%, the maximum from any smaller location in the state.
The new Colorado?
Shoppers are also drawn to New Hampshire’s reputation as a place where you can balance work and leisure, and where recreational activities include boating, skiing, hiking and cycling, said Christopher Masiello, CEO of Masiello Group in Bedford, NH Sua real estate broker closed 7,500 home sale transactions last year; about half were holiday homes.
Masiello says that many buyers moving to New Hampshire are looking to replicate the outdoor lifestyle often associated with western states, but want to stay on the east coast. This explains why he and others refer to New Hampshire as the “New Colorado” on the East Coast.
“New Hampshire and really all of northern New England – New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont – has lifestyle characteristics similar to those in Colorado,” which “is generally considered a popular place to move and is usually mentioned in the best places to go. to live ”.
It may be, but remember that cold air in humid places like the Northeast to sense colder than cold air in dry places in western states like Colorado. So you may not spend as much time outdoors in the Great North as you think. Unless you apply that tax savings to a new hot tub.
This article was reprinted with permission from The Escape Home, a newsletter for second home owners and those who wish to be. Subscribe On here. © 2021. All rights reserved.