When it comes to vacation homes, fresh lobster and the opportunity to play in fresh powder is apparently more appealing than year-round sunshine. Maine has the highest percentage of vacation homes in the U.S., followed by Vermont and New Hampshire.
The research was conducted by investment property exchange firm IPX1031, which analyzed U.S. Census data from 29,000 census-designated places. The Census Bureau defines vacation homes as housing units that are “vacant for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use.”
There are 5.7 million such homes in the U.S.
Not many of them are located in the Midwest, however. Illinois (1 percent), Ohio (1.1 percent), Kansas (1.4 percent), Iowa (1.6 percent) and Indiana (1.7 percent) round out the bottom five vacation home states, excluding Washington D.C.
Seven cities have no housing stock other than vacation homes. California has three such cities (Little Grass Valley, Strawberry and Wilsonia), and Wyoming has two (Atlantic City and Bondurant).
McCarthy, Alaska, and Yellow Pine, Idaho, round out the list.
