Baby boomers are snapping up vacation-home units in county and elsewhere.

Byline: Roger Showley

May 1--Investors largely exited the residential real estate market last year, while vacation-home buyers kept shopping, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday.

It's been well-known for more than a year that sales of houses and condos were falling in many markets, including San Diego County, but this was the first national look at investor and vacation-home buying patterns since the housing slump set in.

In its survey of 1,412 home buyers, the association said investment purchases were down 28.9 percent and primary home sales were down 4.1 percent last year, but second-home buying was up 4.7 percent to a record 1.07 million houses and condos.

Real estate analysts noted the difference between forces motivating buyers seeking homes as…