A Second Home Is a First Home Someone Else Can't Buy
The second-home stock swelled during the pandemic and has since receded. The U.S. counted roughly 7.15 million second homes at the 2020 peak, about 5.1% of the total housing stock.[3] By 2023 the figure had eased to about 5.7 million, near 4%.[3] Each of these units is a home that exists but is not available to a household seeking a primary residence.
U.S. Second Homes, Peak vs. Recent
Estimated count of second homes and share of the total housing stock
Source: NAHB second-home estimates[3]
The Pressure Is Geographic
Non-primary demand is not spread evenly. The Census Bureau counts roughly 4.8 million homes as seasonal, recreational, or occasional-use, and they cluster in a handful of states.[2] Florida leads with over 800,000 such homes, followed by California and New York.[2] In these markets the removal of primary-market inventory is concentrated, which raises questions about local affordability well beyond what the national averages suggest.
| Rank | State | Seasonal / Recreational Homes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 800,000+ |
| 2 | California | 2nd largest |
| 3 | New York | 3rd largest |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau[2]
Which Buyers the Act Actually Targets
It would be misleading to treat all non-primary buyers as a single problem. An American citizen who owns a cabin or a vacation home is not the target of this Act, and nothing in it restricts that ownership. Second-home demand from individual citizens is a normal feature of the housing market.
What Policies 1 and 4 address is a narrower and more concentrated slice: the corporate and foreign portion of non-primary demand. Institutional investors, a subset of all investors, owned about 450,000 single-family homes by 2022, pay cash, and concentrate in Sunbelt metros.[4] A cash buyer with no financing contingency and no intention to occupy the home holds a structural advantage over a family that needs a mortgage. That is the demand the Act separates out and restrains.
The Cash Advantage
Institutional investors owned roughly 450,000 single-family homes by 2022 and buy with cash, concentrating in Sunbelt metros.[4] In the same markets where non-primary demand is highest, mortgage-dependent families are the buyers most often outbid.
Policy Connection
Non-primary demand removes homes from the market where owner-occupants compete. The Act does not touch individual citizens who own a second home. It restrains only the corporate and foreign portion of that demand:
- -Policy 1 ends corporate and institutional ownership of single-family homes, returning that inventory to owner-occupants over a two-year divestment window.
- -Policy 4 ends foreign ownership of residential property, removing the all-cash foreign buyers concentrated in the same high-demand markets.
- -Neither policy restricts an American citizen from owning a second home. The target is corporate and foreign capital, not individual ownership.
Sources
- National Association of Realtors: Research and Statistics - Investor share of home purchases, 2022 peak and 2024
- U.S. Census Bureau: Vacant Seasonal Housing - Seasonal, recreational, and occasional-use home counts by state
- National Association of Home Builders: Second-Home Estimates - Second-home counts and share of housing stock, 2020 and 2023
- U.S. Government Accountability Office: GAO-24-106643 - Institutional single-family ownership, cash purchases, Sunbelt concentration