House hunters could find good prices in second-home markets across the South and Midwest

Record-high home prices and high mortgage rates have battered many real-estate markets across America. But there are some markets with plentiful second homes where sellers might be looking to make a deal.

In this real-estate market, one man's bane can be another man's boon.

While activity in much of the U.S. housing market has been slowed by record-high home prices and persistently elevated mortgage rates, not all buyers are sitting on the sidelines.

Wealthier house hunters remain active. Over the last 12 months, sales of homes priced at $1 million and above have outperformed sales of median-priced homes priced around $400,000 or less.

Many of these wealthy buyers are on the prowl for vacation homes. Demand for mortgages to finance purchases of vacation homes has picked up considerably over the last year, according to a separate analysis of federal data by real-estate brokerage Redfin.

Over the course of 2025, demand for second-home mortgages rose 4.1% from the previous year, a jump that outshined a 1% increase in primary-home mortgages.

These buyers make well over six figures. About 85% of vacation-home mortgages in 2025 went to households with a median income of $294,000. The median household income in the U.S. is about $88,000.

With summer in full swing, affluent buyers with cash to burn may be eyeing second homes. In response to questions from readers about where prices for vacation homes are dropping, MarketWatch worked with Realtor.com to identify which housing markets offer the best potential deals this summer.

The analysis looked at where homes are spending the longest time on the market and where sellers are more likely to offer price cuts, among other metrics. The study focused on the metropolitan areas where vacation homes make up the largest share of housing stock.

Here's what the data showed about the vacation-home market.

Homes in Key West, Fla., are taking the longest to sell

Homeowners in the Key West-Key Largo, Fla., area are struggling: Their homes are taking the most time to sell, spending a median of 103 days on the market in June. About 27% of homes in that area are considered to be vacation homes.

The median list price of a home in the Florida Keys was about $1.2 million.

Naples-Marco Island, Fla., was in second place. Vacation homes make up about a fourth of housing stock in the area, and homes spent 102 days on the market.

The median list price of a home on southwest Florida's Paradise Coast was about $700,000.

In contrast, the median list price of all homes in the U.S. was about $430,000. Homes typically spent 53 days on the market.

Here are the five areas with a large share of vacation homes where listed homes spent the most days on the market before finding a buyer, according to Realtor.com data:

 
Key West-Key Largo, Fla.                  27%  103 
Naples-Marco Island, Fla.                 25%  102 
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.               18%  90 
Panama City Beach, Fla.                   18%  83 
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla.  17%  82 

(Realtor.com is operated by News Corp subsidiary Move Inc.; MarketWatch publisher Dow Jones is also a subsidiary of News Corp.)

Mountain West vacation homes are becoming harder to sell

Homeowners in the Evanston, Wyo., area, near the border with Utah, are seeing the biggest jump in length of time their homes are on the market before finding a buyer, compared with the same time a year ago.

The median list price of a home in Evanston was about $400,000. The region offers a variety of outdoor recreational activities, including hiking, paddleboarding and, in the winter, skiing.

 
Evanston, Wyo.-Utah       21%  80  +17 
Steamboat Springs, Colo.  20%  72  +39 
Bennington, Vt.           23%  56  +14 
Jackson, Wyo.-Idaho       22%  64  +13 
Show Low, Ariz.           23%  70  +10 

Detroit Lakes, Minn., homeowners are most likely to slash prices

Homeowners in Midwestern vacation areas were most aggressive in terms of trying to sell their homes, with a high share of listings seeing a price cut.

In the Detroit Lakes, Minn., market, where about 25% of properties are vacation homes, about 30% of for-sale listings had a price cut in June, Realtor.com data showed.

The median list price of a home in Detroit Lakes was about $539,000. Visitors to the area enjoy activities such as hiking, birdwatching and snowmobiling.

Fergus Falls, Minn., and Ludington, Mich., followed. In Fergus Falls, where 28% of properties were considered to be vacation homes, 26% of for-sale listings had a price cut. In Ludington, where a fifth of properties are vacation homes, nearly 26% of for-sale listings had a price cut, according to Realtor.com data.

 
Detroit Lakes, Minn.  25%  30.0%  50 
Fergus Falls, Minn.   28%  25.8%  50 
Ludington, Mich.      21%  25.5%  36 
Show Low, Ariz.       23%  25.1%  70 
Houghton, Mich.       19%  24.6%  32