Putting some distance between them

Just how far will you venture to find a terrific getaway in the sun?

The strong domestic magnet that pulled Americans closer to hearth and home after Sept. 11 began to lose its strength about three years later as evidenced in the report from Pulte Homes that showed a greater percentage of home buyers older than 50 who were considering a move were “seeking distance” rather than buying a home within three hours of their present residence.

Though the “grandparent” factor was still an enormous incentive for senior boomers to keep at least some geographic tie to the traditional family home, the results of a national survey demonstrated that U.S. citizens had begun to shed some of their safety concerns.

“I was absolutely stunned by it. It caught us all by surprise,” said Sheryl Palmer, one of the key officials in Pulte’s Active Adult Communities for Pulte Homes and Del Webb. “People are looking at the next step in their lives as ‘a time for me.’ They are planning to slow down and do what they want, where they want.”

Retirees, or those seeking to retire in the near future, also are looking for a quieter environment where the hassles of congested areas are absent.

In more popular areas, like Florida and Arizona, gated neighborhoods are growing. These afford the advantages of community while screening out the dangers present in city life.

More evidence that distance wasn’t an issue came recently when Kirkland, Wash.-based www.HomePages.com released a new survey indicating that nearly one-third of those considering a second-home purchase don’t consider its proximity to their current home a major factor. In fact, they would be very willing to jump on an airplane to reach it.

“Vacation and investment homes remain a strong and prominent part of the real estate market, both as a means of providing an escape and providing supplemental short-term and long-term income,” said Ian Morris, chief executive of HouseValues, the parent company of HomePages.

One-quarter of respondents to the HomePages survey said they are considering a second home for investment purposes, while 22% said they wanted one for “enjoyment” such as weekend getaways, vacations and family use. Distance was not a common answer when participants were asked what factor would most likely cause them not to buy a second home. Leading the list of negatives was rising home prices (32%), rising mortgage rates (18%) and job insecurity (12%).

A comprehensive report released by the National Assn. of Realtors in May differentiates between vacation-home buyers and investment buyers. The distance factor was included in the vacation category, which showed 34% of all vacation homes purchased in 2005 were 500 miles or more from the owner’s primary residence.

According to NAR, 27.7% of all homes purchased in 2005 were for investment and an additional 12.2% were vacation homes. There was a total of 3.34 million second-home sales in 2005, up 16% from 2.88 million in 2004. The market share of second homes rose from 36% of transactions in 2004 to 39.9% in 2005.

“Vacation-home sales will remain strong for the foreseeable future,” said David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist. “Baby boomers are favorably positioned in terms of affordability, as well as being at the stage in life when people are most interested in making that kind of a lifestyle purchase. Discretionary purchases of that nature are more likely in a healthy economy, and that is looking positive as well.”

Tom Kelly’s new book “Cashing In on a Second Home in Mexico” was co-written with Mitch Creekmore.