Fractional Ownership News

Fresh from polishing off the last of the Christmas turkey, Fractional Life has blown the dust from its crystal ball to see what the new year has in store for the fractional ownership industry. Last year's prediction's – which demonstrated a serious level of foresight and understanding of the sector – can be found here.

1 Fractional gets serious

Those developers who are unsure of their fractional product or not totally committed to effective fractional sales will fail, withdrawing from the market. With the European Timeshare Directive due to be implemented in February 2011,it's likely only committed fractional developers will enter the marketplace. Those bona fide fractional real estate operators who have invested in effective fractional legal documentation will achieve successful sales.

2 Simple gets simpler

Consumer online and mobile experiences will become much closer to being intuitive than ever before, which in turn means the fractional sales process must leave no room for confusion and doubt, a time to pause maybe. Simple = successful.

3 Referrals and social-lites

Consumers will talk more about themselves than ever before. Social networks allow you to know what's happening in your fractional owners' lives (legally). Treat them with respect and offer random acts of kindness - your referral rate will increase and people will talk favourably about your development, fuelling more potential sales. Caution: Get it wrong and it will take years to put right.

4 Understand the fractional buyer - the 'hard sell' is over forever

With excess property and information available to shrewd buyers the developer sales team needs to truly understand fractional buyer motives. Fractional owners look for convenience and collecting as many experiences as possible, the possibility of perpetual upgrades to the latest and greatest and access to otherwise out-of-reach luxuries. We foresee more 'planned spontaneity' initiatives and a flexible approach to pricing to close the sale.

5 Non-commitment culture

People will continue to be reluctant to commit to discretionary or big ticket items. Temporary choices, renting and sharing more with friends will become more popular - good news for fractional ownership.

6 Mixed-use abounds

With no sign of a return to the second-home whole ownership sales levels of 2006/7, we see the trend of mixed use resorts incorporating both shared and whole ownership purchasing options continuing into 2011. The boutique hotel and hospitality sector will follow the Baglioni and Yoo brands, taking more of an active role in the content of a fractional ownership resort:

7 Urbanomics

Urbanization remains one of the mega trends for the coming decade, says trendwatching.com. Urban consumers tend to be more daring, more liberal, more experienced and prone to trying out new products and services. With bespoke urban fractional real estate offerings already in London and Paris and the recent launch of The Hideaways Club Capital Collection and Rocksure's Capital fund, it will be no surprise to see the growth of PRCs and fractional lifestyle investment funds in many capital cities throughout the world, following in the footsteps of 47 Park Street (London), The Phillips Club (NYC), Palazzo Tornabuoni (Florence) and Oasis Private Residences (Las Vegas).

8 Ski fractionals

With the recent snowfall in many parts of Europe and USA, it comes as a surprise that there's just one European ski fractional offering currently available (in Tignes, France) when compared with the vast selection available in the US and Canada. Expect more to appear on the European slopes this year.

9 Staycation

With the continued popularity of the UK 'staycation', we've witnessed a boom in the fractional lodge sector. We can see this growing as the consumer looks for a cost effective holiday home option.

10 Timeshare migration continues

The CEO of a large, successful European based timeshare company has told Fractional Life that his company will not have a timeshare product for sale within 16 months, due to the company's successful ongoing fractional ownership sales programme. As the timeshare consumer userbase
diminishes with age, we expect other timeshare companies to follow suit.