Hamptons, Palm Beach still among top spots for second homes

With luxury home prices at an apparent bottom, Wall Streeters — and others whose bonus packages have already rebounded — are re-emerging as buyers with the chance to score bargains and return the second-home market to its former glory. For those lucky investors, Barron’s has ranked the top 10 spots for vacation homes, taking into account how far prices have dropped from their peaks in each submarket. Perennial New York favorite the Hamptons came in third, with prices coming in at a median $1.5 million, 30 percent off their peak. The posh vacation spot ranked as less desirable than Maui, which took the top spot with prices down 27 percent, and Kiawah Island, S.C. (No. 2), where prices are down 21 percent. Florida favorite Palm Beach ranked seventh and Captiva/Sanibel Island ranked eighth. Palm Beach and Capitiva/Sanibel Island homes prices are down 11 and 40 percent, respectively, each to a median $3.5 million. Gasparilla Island, a favorite of actor Harrison Ford’s off Florida’s southwest coast, was 10th on the list. The median price is $1.8 million, down 18 percent form its peak.