Hottest Second Home Market Is In Ocean City: Study

OCEAN CITY, NJ — While the population of Ocean City hovers around 11,000 year-round, in the summer it explodes to more than 100,000 as vacationers rush in. Seasonal property owners make up the majority of homeowners here, so it's no surprise that the area is the most popular place in the United States for buying secondary homes, according to a recent study by SmartAsset.

According to the financial company's study, more than 81 percent of mortgages approved in the metro area were for secondary homes.

In numbers, that's 4,910 mortgages for secondary homes vs. 1,129 for primary residences, according to SmartAsset.

2023 marks the fifth year in a row that Ocean City takes the top spot for people buying second homes, and it's hard to beat. In comparison, the second highest is Barnstable, Massachusetts, where nearly 62 percent of approved mortgages are for second homes, SmartAsset said.

Ocean City is popular, but also an expensive place to live, and keeps getting more expensive in terms of property bills, according to recent data from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. Read more: Average Property Tax Bill In Ocean City Is Growing, Latest Data Shows

The Atlantic City-Hammonton metro area ranked number 20 on SmartAsset's list.

SmartAsset examined data from 404 metro areas using number of mortgages approved for second residences and the total number of mortgages approved for the study.