The annual North America survey by Ragatz Associates showed a significant drop of 44% across all shared property types, including fractionals, private residence clubs and destination clubs.
Ragatz counted 322 fractional and private residence clubs in this years survey. The states of Florida, Colorado and California contained 26 percent of these developments, this reflects the popularity of both beach and ski areas. The first private residence clubs were created in Colorado in the early 1990s, to provide people with a luxury home in the mountains that they could use for a few ski weeks a year, they have since expanded to many other states and many other countries.
The sales split by property types were:
| Fractional Interests | $150m |
| Private Residence Clubs | $515m |
| Destination Clubs | $195m |
Last year the total sales were $1.525m, with fractional and private residence club sales at $1,176m and destination club sales of $349m.
Despite all these lower sales the research notes the widely held feeling in the
resort industry that shared property will rebound faster than whole ownership as
the overall economy turns around. The reasons for buying fractional and shared property hasn't
changed and include:
- personal use rather than investment speculation.
- ability to purchase just the amount of time you need, compared to underutilized wholly owned homes.
- lowered household spending habits, which match the lower costs of sharing.
- the hassle free nature, so that owners just show up and enjoy their shared property.
- the flexibility and variety offered by trading and exchange programs, which let members visit many other locations.