We somewhat regularly try and feature listings outside the Boston market for those Buyers visiting our blog who are thinking of a move outside the state of Massachusetts. We’ve got 3 properties to feature today, all with their own uniqueness.

50 Heather Drive in Rye, New Hampshire is a custom built estate in a country club community located along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. New Hampshire provides tax-free living, and this newly built 4 bedroom home with multiple outdoor living spaces is great for entertaining – listed for $3.6 million.

1505 Pearl Street in sunny Boulder, Colorado is a new 22-unit loft-style condo development at the foot of Boulder’s Pearl Street walking mall. The development is poised for a Summer 2008 completion. Prices range from $528K to $1.4 million. For more details, you can contact the Colorado Home Finder team at 800-231-9153.

328 W. 200 S. #505 is a Salt Lake City downtown loft that boasts urban opulence. The two-bedroom two-bathroom 1,715 square foot unit offers soaring ceiling, custom chandeliers, two balconies, above and below ground parking, extra storage, and high end finishes throughout. For more information, you can contact the Cody Derrick Team in Salt Lake City at 801-326-8971. Listed for $635,000.

Back in February, we discussed the increased activity of Europeans interested in purchasing Boston real estate (see Europeans Buy Boston Real Estate), and recently, the National Association of Realtors released a survey discussing investment and vacation home purchases across the entire US, much of which chronicles the influx in foreign investment trends.

In spite of a decline in the total vacation and investment home sales, second-home sales accounted for 33% of transactions in 2007. Sales of vacation properties fell 30.6% to 740,000 in 2007 compared to the prior year which boasted a record 1.07 million, while investment-home sales fell 18.1% to 1.35 million (down from 1.65 million in 2006), according to NAR’s new Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey report. During this same time, primary residence sales declined 10% to 4.34 million in 2007 from 4.82 million in 2006. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun cited the disappearance of speculators from the market as the reason for the decline, leaving the market to serious buyers. The disruption in the mortgage market and tightening of credit during the second half of 2007 also impacted this market sector, but lifestyle factors and strong demographics (including a peak of population in their prime years for buying recreational property), point to a positive outlook for the vacation home market. While U.S. buyers may be taking a wait and see attitude, foreign buyers are taking advantage of the weak U.S. dollar and are propping up second-home sales. Conversely, Inman News reports that U.S. buyers are looking abroad for their second home investment in such markets as Costa Rica, Belize or Mexico, taking advantage of newer resort markets where prices are still relatively low and the U.S. dollar can buy more than at home.

Given that the report chronicles a summer 2007 time period, the data is relatively old, however, the report provides insight into some high level buying trends that are interesting in and of itself.

Download (297 KB) the 2007 report on international homebuying activity in the United States.