PENNSYLVANIA, USA — With the pandemic causing some travel apprehension, people are now investing in vacation homes.
“People can live and work from anywhere now and we’re also seeing it on the travel side,” Daned Kirkham, senior director of real estate with Vacasa said.
Since the pandemic caused many people to work from home, vacation home sales have trended upward. Kirkham says this trend started before the pandemic and will continue.
“We’re seeing a lot more first-time vacation buyers, so that is a very large segment we are seeing that is kind of new," he went on. "We’re also seeing people who owned vacation homes before that didn't rent and are starting to rent them out."
The appeal?
“Feeling a little safer doing it when they are staying at vacation homes, that was a trend we were seeing pre-COVID but now I think they definitely like the convenience that goes along with staying in a home,” Kirkham said.
If you’re considering buying a vacation home as an investment or an escape during lockdown there are some things you should know.
“There are a lot of different considerations that we encourage people to look at," he explained. "For example, views, locations, what are people going to be wanting when they stay there? A lot of times it may be something minor but it might have a big impact on your return, it may be having a hot tub versus not having a hot tub, having a large screen TV versus not."
And if you’re wondering where in Pennsylvania is a hot spot to check out the vacation home scene…
“Camel back up in the Poconos is one of the areas that is usually on our top 10 list; very popular place and we’re seeing a lot of interest in people wanting to travel and get up there,” Kirkham said.