What Are The Hottest Winter Vacation Home Markets?

If your idea of a good winter vacation home buy is one that can also earn you income during the times you’re not using it, there are some key markets that are worthy of a look.

Vacation rental management platform Vacasa ranked vacation rental markets for a look at where the best ROI existed, and narrowed it down to a top 10 where the temperatures might be cold, but the profit is hot.

“In this report, we rank vacation rental markets based on aggregate cap rate, the ratio of a property’s net operating income over its cost,” Vacasa explained. 

To find the net operating income, the company said it calculated first the gross rental income for each market, then subtracted the average operating costs (things like management fees and property taxes). 

“Finally, we divided those figures by the historical costs of buying a vacation rental to determine cap rates for each market,” Vacasa explained.

Taking the top spot was Killington, Vermont. The snowy mountain town boasts six peaks with plenty of downhill trails for skiers of all skills. Not a skier? There are also scenic gondola tours and sleigh rides. 

“Killington boasts a solid cap rate of 8.31%, and with home prices hovering just above $200,000 buyers and investors can feel comfortable they’ll get the most bang for their vacation rental buck.”

Also included were Big Sky, Montana; Breckenridge, Colorado; Dillon, Colorado; and Ludlow, Vermont.

To see the whole report, click here.