More Home Owners Opening Their Doors For Holidaymakers

Internet access is the most crucial amenity for buyers and guests

LONDON, Nov. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- New analysis from Savills and HomeAway® reveals that internet access is not only the most important amenity for holidaymakers when choosing to rent a holiday home but also for second home owners thinking about buying a new holiday rental. 

For the Savills Second Homes Report, Savills Research surveyed 7,800 property owners who list their properties on HomeAway in ten major markets (UK, US, Spain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherland, Portugal, New Zealand and Brazil) alongside 6,800 holidaymakers in the same ten countries who use the HomeAway platform for holiday home bookings.

According to the Savills Second Homes Report, 64% of holiday home owners and 46% of holidaymakers placed the highest importance when choosing a holiday home on having access to the internet, with any access being more important than high speed access, which ranked as the second most important amenity for over half (54%) of all owners responding to the survey and around a third of all holidaymakers.

Other factors considered essential by owners vary by nationality. Whilst 55% of Greek, 25% of Portuguese and 19% of Italian owners consider a balcony or terrace as essential, for American owners (47%), it's air-conditioning. British holiday home owners (30%) value access to a swimming pool and French (30%) look for reserved car parking.  Looking at the preferences of the holidaymakers, parking, a patio or balcony and a TV are deemed most important.

Just under half of survey respondents who purchased a second home in 2019, did so with the intention of also renting it out on a short term basis, instead of 'own use' exclusively as primary reason for purchase.

Owners who choose to rent out their second home do so for a variety of reasons but a source of income and covering costs are the main drivers. Therefore, the health of the holiday rental market is increasingly important to these owners.  The number of days a property is occupied and how this has changed is a good measure of the market, and the signs are positive. Across each country in the survey, a third of owners had seen their booking rates increase over the past year, while a further 45% said it stayed the same.

About HomeAway

HomeAway, a Vrbo brand and part of Expedia Group, based in Austin, Texas, is a leading online marketplace for the vacation rental industry with sites representing more than two million unique places to stay  across the world. For more information about HomeAway, please visit www.homeaway.co.uk.

© 2019 HomeAway.?All rights reserved.?HomeAway and the HomeAway logo are trademarks of HomeAway.?All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Notes to Editors:

Savills is a global real estate services provider listed on the London Stock Exchange. Savills operates from over 600 owned and associate offices, employing more than 35,000 people in over 60 countries throughout the Americas, the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, offering a broad range of specialist advisory, management and transactional services to clients all over the world.

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For press information, contact:

Niki Riley
Savills Press Office
+44(0)20-7016-3843
[email protected]

Yvonne Bonanati
HomeAway Press Office
+44(0)20-3513-0734