Best places to buy a vacation home include parts of Florida, California, based on tally of proximity to local attractions and investment potential: Zillow

Allison Oesterle

SEATTLE , July 3, 2014 (press release) – New semi-annual list ranks best second home destinations based on location, price and investment potential

- Haines City, FL: Best place for golf lovers

- Thousand Palms, CA: Best place for outdoor adventurers

- Port Salerno FL, FL: Best place for beach lovers

- Davenport, FL: Best place for amusement park enthusiasts

Today, Zillow introduces its new, semi-annual "Best Places to Buy a Vacation Home" list, ranking places within close proximity to popular summer and winter vacation destinations.

For the summer edition, out today, Zillow named the best places for golf, beach, outdoor and amusement park vacation homes. To be considered for each list, each area had to meet specific criteria. For example, to be considered for the best places golf list, golf courses had to make up at least 5 percent of the land within an area; for best places for outdoor adventurers, a national park had to be within 20 miles or a half-hour drive of the area. Zillow then ranked the places based on investment potential, looking at both future gains in home values as well as the potential to generate rental income.

Additionally, Zillow created the first-of-its-kind interactive tool, allowing home shoppers to customize their own best places list based on their preferred vacation type, price and location. View the new tool on Zillow Research here.

Results, and topline methodology below:

*Top 10 Places to Buy a Vacation Home for Golf Loversⁱ(Golf courses need to make up 5% of land within city)***
Rank	City
1.	Haines City, FL
2.	Citrus Ridge, FL
3.	Daytona Beach, FL
4.	Port Salerno, FL
5.	Loughman, FL
6.	High Point, FL
7.	Palm Desert, CA
8.	Rio, FL
9.	Deerfield Beach, FL
10.	Fort Myers, FL

*Top 10 Places to Buy a Vacation Home for Outdoor Adventurersⁱⁱ(Needs to be within 20 miles or a half-hour drive of a national park)***
Rank	City
1.	Thousand Palms, CA
2.	Palm Desert, CA
3.	Marblemount, WA
4.	Deal Island, MD
5.	Oak Hill, FL
6.	Mayer, AZ
7.	Rancho Mirage, CA
8.	Cathedral City, CA
9.	Palm Springs, CA
10.	Waynesville, NC

*Top 10 Places to Buy a Vacation Home by the Waterⁱⁱⁱ(Needs to be within 5 miles of a body water with a surface area greater than 40 square miles)***
Rank	City
1.	Port Salerno, FL
2.	Rio, FL
3.	Deerfield Beach, FL
4.	Crisfield, MD
5.	High Point, FL
6.	Hobe Sound, FL
7.	Ormond-by-the-Sea, FL
8.	Calabash, NC
9.	Deal Island, MD
10.	Pineville, SC

Top 10 Places to Buy a Vacation Home for Amusement Park Enthusiasts^iv *(Needs to be within 10 miles of an amusement park, zoo or other attractions)*
Rank	City
1.	Davenport, FL
2.	Holly Hill, FL
3.	Kissimmee, FL
4.	Citrus Ridge, FL
5.	Loughman, FL
6.	Daytona Beach, FL
7.	South Daytona, FL
8.	Desert Hot Springs, CA
9.	Palm Desert, CA
10.	Cape Coral, FL

For a full list of results, contact press@zillow.com, or see our interactive ranking on Zillow Research.

About Zillow, Inc.
Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) operates the largest home-related marketplaces on mobile and the Web, with a complementary portfolio of brands and products that help people find vital information about homes, and connect with the best local professionals. In addition, Zillow operates an industry-leading economics and analytics bureau led by Zillow's Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. Dr. Humphries and his team of economists and data analysts produce extensive housing data and research covering more than 450 markets at Zillow Real Estate Research. Zillow also sponsors the quarterly Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey, which asks more than 100 leading economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists to predict the path of the Zillow Home Value Index over the next five years. Zillow also sponsors the bi-annual Zillow Housing Confidence Index (ZHCI) which measures consumer confidence in local housing markets, both currently and over time. The Zillow, Inc. portfolio includes Zillow.com®, Zillow Mobile, Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, Zillow Rentals, Zillow Digs®, Postlets®, Diverse Solutions®, Agentfolio®, Mortech®, HotPads™ and StreetEasy®. The company is headquartered in Seattle.

Zillow.com, Zillow, Postlets, Mortech, Diverse Solutions, StreetEasy, Agentfolio and Digs are registered trademarks of Zillow, Inc. HotPads is a trademark of Zillow, Inc.

i Zillow identified golf cities and census-designated places (CDPs) as those whose land area, starting from the city center and radiating out to five miles, were at least 5% covered by golf courses. A place was considered a vacation area if 15% of the housing stock was used seasonally or occasionally, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau.
ii Zillow identified cities and census-designated places (CDPs) within 20 miles of a national park visitor center. A place was considered a vacation area if 10% of the housing stock was used seasonally or occasionally, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau.
iii Zillow identified cities and census-designated places (CDPs) within 5 miles of a body of water spanning more than 40 square miles. A place was considered a vacation area if 15% of the housing stock was used seasonally or occasionally, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau.
iv Zillow identified cities and census-designated places (CDPs) within 10 miles of an amusement park, zoo, or other attractions. A place was considered a vacation area if 5% of the housing stock was used seasonally or occasionally, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau.

SOURCE Zillow, Inc.

RELATED LINKS
http://www.zillow.com
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