A new survey commissioned for Knight Frank's annual Private View magazine highlights some interesting trends in the market for luxury second homes.

According to many of the respondents to the Private View Where in the World Second Homes survey, home is where the heart is, even for the jet set.

The survey asked wealth advisors to create the perfect portfolio of four second homes around the world on behalf of their clients. Respondents were also asked to specify whether the properties in their portfolios would be in city, coastal, rural or ski locations.

According to the results, 66% would choose a property in their own country as the first house in their portfolio, while only a quarter wouldn't feature their home country at all.

A significant proportion apparently like staying in their home country so much that three out of the four properties chosen for their portfolios were in their own country (see table 1).

These findings echo a broader trend for "staycations" with more and more people holidaying at home to save money or travel time. For UK-based second-home buyers, in particular, the strength of the euro has made overseas purchases significantly more expensive in many cases.

However, for many of the very wealthy who are constantly on the move, it is time with their families that is the most valuable commodity. A second home that is relatively nearby allows them to make the most of weekends without spending large amounts of time travelling.

Another interesting result from the survey is the popularity of cities as second-home locations. As many respondents opted for a city property as the first choice in their portfolio (see table 2) as did those who picked a coastal location.

Overall, urban apartments or townhouses accounted for 36% of our respondents' portfolios compared with 29% for houses by the sea and 22% for rural retreats (see table 3). While a property in a ski resort is seen as a desirable part of their portfolios for 13% of respondents, only 6% nominated it as their first choice. Over a fifth, however, would choose a home in the snow as the fourth property in their perfect second-home portfolio.

Given that relaxation and "getting away from it all" is an important part of second-home ownership for many people (see table 4), the popularity of cities could seem a little contradictory. But when one takes into account that second homes, in many cases, are also an investment, it is not surprising. London, Paris and New York were the most popular city locations and their property markets have proved resilient to the global economic downturn.

In terms of countries, France was the most popular second-home choice, accounting for almost a quarter of the properties in the survey respondents' portfolios (see table 5). This popularity can be explained by the country's many second-home options across all location types. France was the most popular or second-most popular choice in all categories (see table 6).

Overall, the UK was runner up, with the US, Italy and Switzerland also attracting interest across the board. Unsurprisingly, Spain and the Caribbean scored strongly as ideal coastal locations. Other countries that were picked, but did not make it into the top five for any category included Dubai, Bali, Monaco and the Maldives.

When it came to nominating which factors were the most important when choosing a second home, climate came top, closely followed by gardens and peace and quiet (see table 4). Technology, modern design and concierge services did not make it into the top 10, although security was considered a concern.

 Table 1 - The number of houses in their country of residence the wealthy have in their perfect second-homes portfolio.

 Table 2 - Favoured location type for first property in second-homes portfolio

 Table 3 - Favoured location type for overall second-home portfolio

 Table 4 - Most important factors when choosing a second home

Table 5 - Most popular country in second-home portfolios

 Table 6 - Most popular countries by location type

Contact the author: andrew.shirley@knightfrank.com