More Second Home Owners Renting Out Properties

"About 25 percent of vacation-home buyers said last year that they planned to rent out the property, up from 18 percent in 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors," the AP reports.

"And real estate agents in vacation hot spots say that trend is continuing, because more owners are watching their retirement savings slump with the stock markets.

"People who have second homes have found the price of operating and maintaining their home have gone up" alongside the increased cost for everything else in their lives, the wire service quoted Justin Halloran, vice president of HomeAway.com as saying.