Ranking it
Houston's favorite vacation homes are revealed: Prepare to be surprised
When it comes to purchasing a vacation property, Houstonians don't care to venture too far from home. At least so indicates a recent study by San Francisco-based real estate website Trulia, which looks at the most frequently-searched ZIP codes out of the country's 25 largest metro areas.
In an accompanying infographic on "Where Americans Look for Vacation Homes," it's clear that a cabin in the artsy beach community of Rockport — an easy three hour drive from downtown — ranks No. 1 for Houston residents, netting approximately 5.5 percent of vacation home searches.
(This number would likely be dwarfed by searches for Galveston County, which aren't counted since it lies within the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area.)
Next up is South Padre Island, which is searched 4.9 percent of the time by Houstonians seeking second homes. The drive is nearly twice as long, but arguably worth it for the white sand and brilliant blue water.
Port Aransas, Port O'Connor and Matagorda round out the top five on the list, but other hotspots for Houstonians include Llano County in central Texas; Summit County, Colo., home of ski enclaves like Keystone and Breckenridge; Lincoln County, N.M., where Ruidoso and Carrizozo are the biggest towns; Baldwin County, Ala., home of Gulf Shores; and Walton and Bay counties in the Florida panhandle.