U.S. second-home mortgages are up for the first time since the pandemic

SALT LAKE CITY — More Americans took out mortgages for a second home in 2025 than during the previous year, something that hasn't happened since the COVID-19 pandemic buying frenzy.

The 4.1% increase in second-home mortgages comes after four years of declines from a 2021 peak, the online real estate brokerage Redfin reported. Last year, the number of mortgages for primary residences rose just 1% from 2024.

But vacation home numbers fall far short of pre-pandemic activity.

In 2021, there were more than 258,000 second-home mortgages compared to just over 90,000 last year, according to Redfin's data. The share of total mortgages going for second homes also fell, from 5.1% in 2021 to 2.7% in 2025, just a 0.1 percentage point increase from 2024.

The same affordability issues and high mortgage rates that have slowed the overall market are seen as being behind the decline, along with fewer opportunities to use the properties for remote work or rental income.

Chen Zhao, Redfin's head of economics research, said those shifts make "vacation homes less appealing for regular Americans," many of whom are struggling to be able to afford a primary residence.

"Vacation homes are making a modest comeback, but it's a very different market than it was during the pandemic," Zhao said, noting today's buyers "tend to have the financial flexibility to make a big, discretionary purchase even in an expensive housing market."

Who's buying vacation homes?

Here's how Redfin describes who took out a mortgage for another home last year:

• High earner. Just over 85% earned a median income of $294,000 last year, while less than 3% of second-home mortgages went to low-income buyers making a median income of $69,000.
• White. More than 4 in 5, 81.5%, were white, followed by buyers who were Hispanic, at 5.6%; Asian, 5.2%; and Black, 2.2%.
• Gen X. In the year when members of the first post-baby boomer generation were aged 45-60, close to one-third of second-home mortgages, 31.1%, went to those 55-64 years old plus an additional 27.6%, to 45-54 year olds. Those 35-44 accounted for 18.6%; 65-74, 14.1%; and under 35, 5.4%.

The West Palm Beach, Florida, metropolitan area had the biggest percentage of second-home mortgages last year, accounting for nearly 6% of all loans, followed by the Jersey Shore in the New Brunswick, New Jersey, area at 4.6% and the Palm Springs, California, area at 3.8%.

And while 35 of the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas saw more mortgage originations for second homes in 2025, there were spots around the country that saw significant drops from 2024, including Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

But the largest year-over-year decline was 20.9% in Las Vegas. Even so, the Nevada city still had the sixth-highest share of vacation home mortgages in the country, at 2.7% of all home loans last year.

Where Utah fits in the luxury second-home market

The list of metropolitan areas in the Redfin analysis did not include any places in Utah. However, in March, a Forbes article highlighted Salt Lake City as one of four locations said to be "reshaping the luxury home landscape" for wealthy second home buyers in 2026.

Along with Naples and Popano Beach, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; and Scottsdale, Arizona, the Utah capital and neighboring mountain communities were described as attracting "a new generation of buyers (looking) beyond legacy markets like Aspen, Miami and the Hamptons."

Buyers in the Salt Lake City area also "expect to benefit from a huge boom eight years from now," when Utah hosts the 2034 Winter Games, Molly Jones, managing partner of The Agency Salt Lake City, told Forbes.

The big spenders who often pay in cash for a second home venture further out to the Park City and Heber Valley areas for the world-class ski resorts and high-end amenities that are still close to the Salt Lake City International Airport, Forbes said.

Related topics