Vacasa Releases Top 25 Best Places to Buy a Vacation Home for 2022

Newly ranked vacation rental markets boast strong cap rates and climb to the top of Vacasa’s fifth annual report


PORTLAND, Ore., July 26, 2022—Vacasa, North America’s leading vacation rental management platform, released its fifth annual Top 25 Best Places to Buy a Vacation Home report today. Each year, the company ranks its top 25 markets* to purchase a vacation home based on capitalization (cap) rate, or rate of return on your investment. The report ranking also factors key data points, including median home sale price and annual gross rental revenue, to help guide buyers to markets that have an attractive investment profile and are vacation rental friendly.

“According to a recent analysis by Redfin, global market conditions are reportedly slowing home sales after years of historically high demand and low inventory. As a result, the real estate market is stabilizing and allowing prospective buyers to search for the right home with less pressure than they may have experienced a year or two ago,” said Vacasa’s Senior Director of Real Estate Daned Kirkham. “The ever-changing real estate market highlights the importance of having an agent who specializes in vacation rental destinations and homes to help buyers select the best investment.”

According to this year’s report, buyers should consider vacation homes in waterfront destinations as the vast majority of markets are waterfront or water adjacent, including this year’s number one destination, Lake Anna, Virginia. Demand for waterfront properties has been reflected in Vacasa data throughout the past year. The 2022 Vacation Rental Buyer Report revealed that short-term rental buyers are most interested in beach markets, up 10% over 2021. On the guest side this sentiment also rings true: sunny beaches dominated the 10 most-searched cities in Vacasa’s 2022 Vacation Rental Search Report.

However, not all of the 2022 markets are beachy (or new!). A handful of repeat locations from the 2021 Top 25 Best Places to Buy a Vacation Home report also made the 2022 list, in addition to newcomers like Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Sylva, North Carolina; and Nashville, Tennessee; representing popular desert, urban and mountain destinations among buyers.

To view Vacasa’s full Top 25 Best Places to Buy a Vacation Home report, click HERE.

*Our Methodology

To determine its ranking of top vacation rental markets, Vacasa analyzed home sales and vacation rental performance data from the last twelve months for vacation destinations throughout the country where Vacasa and its licensed subsidiaries manage at least 50 units, half of which that have been under Vacasa’s management for at least 12 months and there are 250+ non-Vacasa managed vacation rentals. To determine average gross rental income (homeowner revenue made from bookings, excluding any fees) for a market, we averaged actual performance data for Vacasa managed units in the past 12 months and adjusted that number to reflect assumed usage by the owner. To calculate average cap rate, we considered the averages of the following in each market: property taxes, utilities, insurance, and property management fees.

About Vacasa

Vacasa is the leading vacation rental management platform in North America, transforming the vacation rental experience by integrating purpose-built technology with expert local and national teams. Homeowners enjoy earning significant incremental income on one of their most valuable assets, delivered by the company’s unmatched technology that adjusts rates in real time to maximize revenue. Guests can relax comfortably in Vacasa’s 35,000+ homes across more than 400 destinations in North America, Belize and Costa Rica, knowing that 24/7 support is just a phone call away. In addition to enabling guests to search, discover and book its properties on Vacasa.com and the Vacasa Guest App, Vacasa provides valuable, professionally managed inventory to top channel partners, including Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo.

For more information, visit https://www.vacasa.com/press.

California licenses
Vacasa Seasonals Inc.
California DRE #02160171


Vacation Palm Springs Real Estate, Inc.
California DRE #01523013

Vacasa offers property management and other real estate services directly through Vacasa LLC and through Vacasa LLC's licensed subsidiaries. Click here for more information about Vacasa's licensed real estate brokerage/property manager in your state. Vacasa’s licensed real estate brokerages/property managers include: Vacasa Alabama LLC; Vacasa Arizona LLC; Vacasa of Arkansas LLC; Vacasa Colorado LLC (Micah Victory); Vacasa Delaware LLC, 302-541-8999; Vacasa Florida LLC; Vacasa Illinois LLC 481.014072, Micah Victory Managing Broker Lic# 471.021837; Vacasa Louisiana LLC, Dana MacCord, Principal Broker, ph 504.252.0155 (Licensed in LA); Vacasa Michigan LLC, 602-330-9934; Vacasa Missouri LLC, Vicki Lyn Brown, Designated Broker; Vacasa Nevada LLC; Vacasa New Hampshire LLC,45 NH-25, Meredith, NH 03253, Susan Scanlon, Broker of Record; Vacasa Minnesota, Broker: Micah Victory, license #40877637; Vacasa New Mexico LLC, 503-345-9399; Vacasa New York LLC, 888-433-0068, Susan Scanlon, Real Estate Broker; Vacasa North Carolina LLC; Vacasa Oregon LLC; Vacasa Pennsylvania LLC; Vacation Palm Springs Real Estate, Inc., California DRE #01523013, Mark Graham, California DRE #00700720; Vacasa Real Estate LLC (licensed in Texas, Debra Brock, Designated Broker); Vacasa Real Estate LLC (licensed in Washington, Robert Brush, Designated Broker); Vacasa Seasonals Inc., California DRE #02160171, Lisa Renee Stevens, California DRE #01485234; Vacasa South Carolina LLC; Vacasa South Dakota LLC; Vacasa Tennessee LLC; Vacasa Vacation Rentals of Hawaii LLC, 69-201 Waikoloa Beach Dr. Ste. #2F17, Waikoloa, HI 96738; Vacasa Vacation Rentals of Montana LLC, Terah M. Young, Licensed Property Manager; Vacasa Virginia LLC; Vacasa Wisconsin LLC; Vacasa Wyoming LLC. In Canada, this advertisement is provided by Vacasa Canada ULC, CPBC lic. number 75826, 172 Asher Rd. V1X 3H6 Kelowna, BC.