Vacation-Home Purchases in New York Fall Nearly 60 Percent Since 2021

RCBJ-Audible (Listen For Free)

Post-Pandemic Second-Home Purchases Plunge Amid High Mortgage Rates & Persistent Inflation

The pandemic-era vacation-home boom appears to be unraveling, according to a report by SellMyTimeshareNow.

A new analysis found that U.S. vacation-home purchases financed with a mortgage fell 65.8 percent between 2021 and 2025, dropping from 257,549 purchases to just 88,158 nationwide.

These additional home purchases fell by nearly two-thirds from 2021 to 2025 amid soaring prices and mortgage rates. The U.S. vacation-home market has contracted sharply since its pandemic-era peak, reversing a surge driven by historically low borrowing costs and increased demand for remote-friendly living. The vacation-home share of total mortgage originations fell from 4.9% in 2021 to 2.6% in 2025. These drops followed a period when second-home demand expanded rapidly, particularly in resort markets and lower-density areas.

Vacation homes—also referred to as second homes or seasonal properties—are residential properties purchased primarily for leisure use rather than as a primary residence. While often associated with affluent buyers and resort destinations, this segment of the housing market can serve as a leading indicator of broader economic conditions.

Because these purchases are typically discretionary, shifts in vacation-home demand can signal changes in consumer confidence, housing affordability, and the financial flexibility of higher-income households—factors that also influence the wider real estate market and local economies that depend on seasonal residents.

The report examines where second-home demand has declined the most across the country, ranking states and metro areas based on the change in vacation-home mortgage originations since the height of the pandemic housing boom.

In recent years, higher mortgage rates, elevated home prices, and tighter financial conditions have made second-home purchases more difficult to sustain, particularly compared with the low-rate environment earlier in the decade. As a result, many prospective buyers are turning toward alternatives such as timeshares and short-term rentals, which offer access to vacation properties without the high upfront costs and unpredictable overhead of owning a vacation home.

Key Takeaways for New York State

The vacation-home boom has collapsed. Second-home purchases fell nearly 66 percent nationally since 2021, suggesting the pandemic-era rush into vacation properties has fully reversed.
How seasonal the local housing market is: 3.5 percent of housing in New York State is used seasonally, recreationally, or occasionally.
How much vacation-home demand fell in New York State: Vacation-home purchases in New York State fell 59.4 percent between 2021 and 2025. In total numbers, purchases went from 8,461 in 2021 to 3,436 in 2025.
New York State ranked 36th in the analysis.
How common vacation-home mortgages still are in New York State: Vacation homes accounted for 3 percent of all mortgage originations in New York State in 2025.
The median value of mortgaged vacation homes in New York State is $655,000.

The full report includes localized data for nearly 900 metropolitan and micropolitan areas, as well as all 50 states, covering changes in vacation-home purchases, second-home mortgage activity, housing seasonality, and related market trends.

This is the full report from SellMyTimeshareNow

Here is a summary of the data for New York State: