Before the housing bubble burst property in residential areas of Arizona was in high demand. Now, the average home is being sold for less than $100,000, and thousands of houses sit unoccupied. Local residents have long blamed the state of the market on vacation homeowners. On average, out of town homeowners only stay in their property for 70 days a year. This means that home shoppers are forced to choose from foreclosures or older constructions. However, a new study indicates that vacation homeowners are actually doing more good than harm.
When vacationers stay in their second homes they do a lot of shopping. Research shows that the average vacation homeowners spends more than $100 on retail items, food purchases, upgrades and upkeep costs. They are more likely to purchase new appliances in Arizona as well. Arizona, which has been struggling to get a handle on the real estate crisis is benefiting, but local residents still bring in more profits.
The average income for households in Arizona is less than $70,000 a year. By contrast, vacation homeowners bring in more than $120,000 a year. In essence, they are getting a deal by staying in Arizona. Officials can’t boot them out, but residents are still upset about a lack of land. There are thousands of miles of land in Arizona, but much of it is either uninhabitable or simply too far away from major cities. Real estate experts hope that more second home shoppers will come to Arizona so that they can begin to sell of their backlog of foreclosed homes, even if they don’t bring in as much revenue.
