Second Home Hotspots For US Centi-Millionaires

Investment migration consultancy firm “Henley & Partners” published a comprehensive overview of the private wealth sector in the USA, including trends among centi-millionaire. One key trend that piqued our interest was the revelation of where these affluent people have been buying second homes. 

“Beachfront areas feature prominently in the top holiday home hotspots for centi-millionaires in the USA shown here, as do towns in the Rocky Mountains. Peak-month figures include centi-millionaire residents and second home owners but exclude those staying in hotels,” the report said.

Here are the top cities and towns, including Miami, Florida; The Hamptons, New York; West Palm Beach, Florida; Napa, California; and Aspen, Colorado, to name a few, of where centi-millionaires have bought second homes in the last few years. 

“The pandemic prompted many Americans to turn their second homes into primary residences, which had both lifestyle and taxation benefits,” Henley & Partners analysts pointed out. We noted this in the early pandemic as many of these folks panic left the Northeast region and other high-tax metro areas for places with either warmth, fewer taxes, and or vast amounts of land around them. 

The report continued:

The trend of hybrid living was evident in vacation home hotspots in naturally beautiful settings such as Aspen, the Hamptons, and Jackson Hole. It also arose in emerging tech hubs such as Austin and Miami, which attracted wealthy buyers working in tech. The cities’ business-friendly environments and the influx of superior talent attracted major corporates and they reinvented themselves as new tech industry capitals.

With no state income tax and abundant space, Austin has been a growth market for luxury real estate, with the metro in particular gaining from internal migration due to tech firms such as Amazon, Google, Meta, SpaceX, and Tesla expanding their presences, and Apple investing USD 1 billion in a new campus. Crypto-friendly Miami has attracted cryptocurrency businesses and has also seen a spate of technology and real estate headquarters opening. These developments appeared to signal a new era for the two cities.

It’s no secret that rich folks have shifted around the country in a post-Covid world. Many fled to rural and suburban areas and warm climate areas. It’s important to know this because, as the old saying goes, “follow the money.”