New Report Shows Demand for Vacation-Home Mortgages on the Decline from Last Year

A recent Redfin report that analyzed the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data on second-home purchases showed a 7.3 percent drop from April 2023 and a 1.6 percent decline in primary home mortgages. This follows last year’s trend of falling mortgages for both secondary and primary homes. The report indicates U.S. homebuyers took out 90,772 mortgages for second homes in 2023, down 40 percent from a year earlier and down 65 percent from the height of the pandemic-housing boom in 2021. Mortgages for primary homes also experienced a decrease of 20 percent in 2023. Continued low inventory and high mortgage rates and home prices are being blamed for the slowdown, as the report shows 2023 was the least affordable year on record. “Affordability hasn’t improved in 2024,” the report states. “Monthly housing costs are at an all-time high.”...