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“Staycation” was last summer's buzzword as people pared down ambitious travel plans to save gas money, airline hassles and lodging expenses. What many don't know, however, is that the number of people taking leisure vacations was up from 2007, according to Y Partnership, a national travel marketing agency—it's just that people stayed closer to home. Those who had planned to fly to a remote beach destination, for instance, may have parked it on a beach within driving distance instead.

A parallel trend is happening in the vacation real estate market. The market for second homes is healthy—over the past 20 years, the number of vacation and investment homes in the Puget Sound region has more than doubled, says Sonja Riveland, a consultant for Windermere Real Estate—but potential buyers are looking more and more at locations within a few hours' drive.

A 2006 Windermere Survey of Vacation Homeownership found that 60 percent of the vacation homes owned by Puget Sound residents are in Washington state, and almost half are less than 100 miles from their owners' primary residences. Windermere broker Marla Shea in Camano Island has noticed a recent increase in that trend, in part because of an overall decrease in out-of-state buyers, she reports. “The majority of homes we're selling are going toward Puget Sound–area buyers,” Shea says.

Boomers want to be near children and grandchildren, while younger second-home buyers are eschewing long vacations for more frequent weekend trips. Both demographics want to use their second homes year-round. “With our fast-paced, activity-packed lifestyles, many people are opting to take their vacation time as extended weekends in place of two- or three-week holidays,” Riveland says. As an added benefit, close-in second homes allow telecommuters the ability to create a more peaceful workday.

Nearby Finds
In terms of numbers, the top five western Washington vacation-home locations are San Juan Island, Chelan, Whidbey Island, Hood Canal and Belfair, according to Windermere. Places such as these are both easy to reach and easy on the gas tank—and they don't require a trip to the airport.

Waterfront property is doing well in Belfair and the surrounding areas in the current buyer's market, says Windermere managing broker Richard Bell, noting that waterfront sales have risen since January. Potential buyers are attracted to Mason County because of its close access to Hood Canal and South Puget Sound, and because the area is a gateway to recreational activity in the Olympic Mountains. Adventure seekers can be close to shrimping, crabbing, fishing, horseback riding, boating, golfing, hiking and camping.

Tucked-away condominium projects on golf courses are also popular in Mason County for those looking for a home-away-from-home retreat that's easy to maintain. “The people that are buying the condos don't want to deal with the yard work, but they want to play golf and recreate,” Bell says. On the west ridge of Allyn, LakeLand Village overlooks Puget Sound's Case Inlet and Mount Rainier and surrounds a 50-acre spring-fed lake. The project—which is only an hour and a half away from the city—is in its fifth phase of developments with 18 more homes in the works. Alderbrook Properties, 30 minutes away, offers similar amenities and easy access to the Alderbrook Resort & Spa as well as the Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club.

Farther west, second-home sales in the oceanside towns of Seabrook and Westport are thriving. Seabrook, founder and president Casey Roloff's beachfront community project, is an 80-acre town about a mile south of Pacific Beach with both Nantucket-style oceanfront homes ($1 million–$2 million) and non-oceanfront cottages ($399,000 and up). Roloff has said that Seattle-area residents are more willing to drive to the Washington coast than they are the Oregon coast or to endure ferry lines to reach a Puget Sound island. More than 100 Seabrook homes are completed, and in the next five years, the total is projected to be 450, all within walking distance of the beach, shopping and services.

The beachfront town of Westport, on the south side of Grays Harbor, has a marina as well as a golf course in the works, but many people don't think of it as a vacation destination, according to Windermere agent Mike Coverdale. He says he is always surprised that everyone knows about Ocean Shores but few have heard of Westport, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Seattle. “The thing about our Washington coast is that Westport is our closest coastal destination for about 6 million people,” he asserts.

Two new projects may increase Westport's popularity as a vacation destination. The Point at Westport Harbor, built by Integrity Structures, Inc., and completed in April, has 26 luxury condominiums starting at $395,000; about one-third had sold at press time. Integrity is also building a project in nearby Cohasset Beach that will have 63 homes completed in about five years; seven homes have been built—starting in the mid-$800,000s—and three are in progress. “There's absolutely no other waterfront community that has both a beachfront and a marina in walking distance of one another,” Coverdale says.

Home Away From Home
Those who aren't looking for nearby second homes are looking for just the opposite: destinations in exotic locales. Households with $1 million or more in assets, excluding a primary residence, aren't as interested in Europe as they used to be because of the weak U.S. dollar, reports Windermere's Riveland. Instead, they are looking for second homes on beaches in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize and Anguilla. These buyers—known as “the experience set,” Riveland says—are looking for adventure along with relaxation.

High-end destinations are still strong because the luxury market withstands fluctuations in the economy better than other markets. In fact, both first- and second-home sales in the high-end market, priced at $5 million or more together, rose 31 percent last year, according to research firm DataQuick.

Mexico—always a hot spot for Seattleites—is experiencing a building boom to match the demand. In 2007, retirees looked at homes in Mexico more than in any other country outside the United States, according to the 2007 International Living Global Retirement Index. Boomers are looking for exotic beach locales with all of their familiar amenities—high-speed Internet access, sustainability, Starbucks and Costco—and Mexico is responding.

Seattle public relations company Suzuki and Chou Communimedia's newest division, Latitude Sol, focuses on the growing real estate market in Mexico and lists the country's hottest spots as Baja California—where Donald Trump is building a condominium—Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Maya. Baja California is a desertlike location that offers golf, sea kayaking, sailing and fishing on the Pacific; tropical Puerto Vallarta on the Sea of Cortez offers sailing, diving and golf; and for an ambience of Mayan ruins and the adventure of diving in cenotes (underground flooded caves), there's the Riviera Maya on the Caribbean.

For potential buyers, the options here and there, whether at home or in exotic destinations, may make “staycations” at home a brief and fleeting trend.  

Lindsey Rowe also contributes to SH&L's blog, Design Dish.