The real estate market in Cape May County, New Jersey is based on second homes – vacation homes - whatever you want to call them. The county is evenly divided – 50% of residences are primary homes and 50% are second homes. At our real estate agency, both our island office in Wildwood Crest and our mainland office in Swainton sell about 90% second homes. Primary homes are a small part of our business.
Cape May County has a lot going for it to attract families with the financial ability to afford a vacation home. There’s the beaches, the boardwalks, fishing and boating, 12 golf courses, a great free zoo, bird-watching, restaurants, state parks, museums, and shopping. Eco-tourism alone accounts for $522 million per year. With low crime, no industry, and tolerable traffic, it’s the recipe for an inviting vacation destination.
While much of the country still suffers from a stagnant real estate market, here at the shore the market is back on the rise. Perhaps analyzing a few numbers will help us understand not only why we are doing okay, but also why we’ll flourish in the future.
There are 6 million households in the United States that own a second home. Numbers released from a 2007 poll indicate that 22.8 million American households (out of 105 million total US households) expect to purchase a second home in the next 10 years. Wow, that’s a staggering number. Let’s postulate, being very conservative, that two-thirds of those families will not realize that dream. That still leaves 7.6 million families that will purchase a second home, more than doubling the number of vacation homes nationwide.
What do people look for in a vacation home? Good question. The answer is either water – an ocean, lake, or river – or mountains. Not too many families want their getaway to be in rural Iowa or downtown Cleveland. Naturally, Cape May County has the Atlantic Ocean, along with wide, sandy beaches, moderate temperatures, and it’s easily accessible by car from anywhere in the middle Atlantic states. We’re not Maine, we’re not Florida, in weather extremes or distance. Thank heavens!
Obviously, affluence has a lot to do with where second home families originate. The highest median home price is in California, so that would be the best market. Hawaii and Washington, DC are second and third, but they’re too small for the home prices to mean much. The next “real” market is Massachusetts in fourth place, then New Jersey is fifth.
Metropolitan New York City with 18.7 million people, Philadelphia and its suburbs with 5.8 million people, along with all of New Jersey, are the primary sources for folks interested in buying second homes at the South Jersey seashore. All are within a two and a half hour drive, the accepted norm. That is a tremendous pool of families from which to draw potential vacation home owners.
The demographics are a strong argument why Cape May County’s real estate market will continue to grow and prosper. One figure still sticks in my mind – 22.8 million households expect there’s a good chance they’ll buy a second home in the next 10 years. Kinda gives me goosebumps.
- Mountain Man
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