Shared Ownership real estate is growing rapidly, increasing to $1.65 billion in sales last year for the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, up more than 30 percent from 2005. Such properties appeal to buyers who want exclusive getaways but who may be unwilling or unable to purchase a second home they will use for only a few weeks a year.

Unlike time shares, shared ownership carries a title of ownership and is marketed as high-end vacation homes, typically costing an average of 10 times as much as a time share.

“The younger generation of buyers is viewing it as an alternative to full ownership because of the ease. You’re not paying for when the property is vacant”, said John Melicharek, head of the tourism industry practice at the law firm of Baker Hostetler in Orlando, Fla. “It’s become a convenient way to own a second home without all of the problems.”

As of January, there were 249 shared ownership developments in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, a 39 percent increase from 2005, according to NorthCourse Leisure Real Estate Solutions, a consulting group in Parsippany, N.J. According to Ragatz Associates, a consulting and market research firm in Eugene, Ore., that tracks the resort industry, 40,000 households, or about 1 percent of all households in the country that earn over $200,000 a year, have purchased shared ownership.

When buyers purchase shared ownership, which is typically marketed to people who make at least $200,000, they are buying a portion of a condominium, a town house or a house and receive a deed to the property. A time share, by contrast, is shared among as many as 50 buyers, who pay for specific blocks of time and typically do not own a share of the property. Time is bought by the week and often costs between $10,000 and $30,000.

Shared Ownership is now found from Midtown Manhattan to Colorado ski resorts to the North Eastern Mountains of Georgia.They often come with expensive appliances, finishes and furniture and have a staff who can stock refrigerators, tune skis and place owners’ personal gear in their units before they arrive and other high end services.

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