Manhattan Beach, Venice homes as vacation rentals

There's more online interest from property owners in renting out their vacation homes in Southern California beach cities these days, according to a recent report from HomeAway.com.

Topping the list of markets with the greatest growth in home listings at the site in the first quarter of this year, compared with the first quarter of 2008, was New York City, followed by Manhattan Beach, Vancouver, Mammoth Lakes and Venice.

Meanwhile, travelers' searches increased the most for Arlington, Va.; Watersound, Fla.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Berkeley; and Beverly Hills. West Hollywood ranked 10th in the HomeAway Vacation Rental Marketplace Report.

Among the reasons owners reported for renting out their second homes was the need to generate income due to job loss, the inability to sell and the risk of foreclosure.

--Lauren Beale

Thoughts? Comments?

Photo: The Manhattan Beach Pier. Credit: Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times

Top vacation home spots? Not California

Publications love lists. The October/November issue of Robb Report Vacation Homes, which should be out the middle of next week, will look at the "top" places to buy second homes these days.

No California destinations make the U.S. list, but Las Vegas does. The editors report that while the low-end of the price spectrum has slipped significantly, international demand is buoying the top of the market. Home prices in the Las Vegas area (including Boulder City and Henderson) had dropped 20% at the end of the second quarter from the same quarter a year ago, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick. For the same period, sales were off 18%.

The criteria for making the Robb Report list seems to be somewhat of a head-scratcher. Included in the top 5 are Aspen/Snowmass Village, Colo., which saw its "second-best year for home sales ever" in 2007 and where prices  are up an average 10.5% in 2008;  Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where median home prices rose more than 50% from 2000 to 2006 and are reportedly holding firm in resort areas; and Maui, where condo prices are up 27% from a year ago. Yet also making the list is Miami, with a high rate of foreclosures and a condo overbuilding problem. As for that editors' pick, "Miami epitomizes the 'buy low, sell high' axiom for potential investors." 

-- Lauren Beale

Your thoughts? Comments?

Photo: Construction worker Jorge Silva works at a KB Home site in Las Vegas in March. Credit:  Jae C. Hong / Associated Press