Big Bear Lake, CA (IPR Wire) May, 2006 — Second home purchases of vacation and investment properties are becoming an ever-increasing part of total home sales. In 2005 Americans bought a record number of second homes, amounting to nearly 40% of total home sales, a real estate trade association reported recently.

And with baby boomers at the peak of their earning potential, the push to snap up vacation homes is unlikely to reverse soon despite a broader housing slow down, the National Association of Realtors said. “The baby-boom generation is driving second home sales,” David Lereah, the Realtor’s group chief economist, said in a statement. “They’re at the optimum point in life when people become interested in second homes. They’re at the peak of their earnings, interest rates remain historically low and boomers want to diversify investments,” he added.

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