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IF RAPIDLY RISING REAL ESTATE PRICES HAD discouraged you from entering the second-home market, take heart. The recent cooling of once-hot markets, particularly in resort areas, could be your ticket to a vacation home or a future retirement home.
Vacation and investment homes accounted for about 40% of all home sales in 2005, according to the National Association of Realtors. The record sales of second homes were fueled by aging baby-boomers, now 43 to 61 years old. That trend is likely to continue as the 78-million-strong generation reaches traditional retirement age over the next two decades. "They're at the optimum point in life when people ...