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If a having a second home is a sure sign of success, then consider Florida a Grade A student.
The state placed seven regions in a new report, from data firm SmartAsset, on the hottest spots nationwide for mortgages on secondary properties. The list compared data for 400 metro areas across two metrics: number of mortgages for secondary residences and total number of mortgages approved in 2018. The top 25 on the list all posted secondary mortgage rates of at least 14% — well above the national mark of 3.8%
Naples, not much of a surprise, led the way in Florida with a No. 5 ranking overall. In the Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island MSA, 28% of the total 2018 approved mortgages were secondary homes, the report shows. That’s 1,870 homes.
Directly behind Naples on the list is the Villages, in Sumter County. Although not as tony as Naples, or the No. 18 region, North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, the Villages does attract people who look to buy second homes: seniors and baby boomers. That cohort, the report shows, took out 822 mortgages for secondary residences in the Villages in 2018, 27.4% of all mortgages.
One region absent from the top 25? The Midwest. While coastal northeast towns join the Southeast on the list, and Arizona and Hawaii have three of the top 10, the first Midwestern metro area to appear in the rankings is Niles-Benton Harbor, Mich., at No. 31.
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