Annual Fractional Ownership conference 2007

Source: Property24

The new buzz word in property is fractional ownership which is making an entry into the South African market following world trends.

Fractional ownership is portioned equity ownership of a property. Each owner has a number of weeks of occupancy attached to his/her purchase of the vacation home. In 1994, this new concept debuted in the United States with fractional ownership of vacation homes. Patterned after fractional ownership of private jets, the concept formalized the idea of a group of relatives or buddies pooling their resources to buy a getaway place, and a means for working-class households to at least own a piece of a vacation home.

This type of vacation real estate ownership is ideal if you want the benefits of owning an impressive second home (typically of more value than you would afford on your own), complete with management services, located in a very exclusive community, but you can't justify whole ownership because of your projected limited use.

Most fractional owners are frequent visitors to the resort area, and want something they can call "their own", with friends and family members. These buyers aren't looking to be sold vacation time, but instead want an upscale vacation property without the responsibilities and costs associated with a wholly owned home. Fractional ownership is a lifestyle choice, yet an affordable and sensible way to purchase a second home, providing most of the benefits of true property ownership.

Increased public awareness of the various Vacation Ownership models has been driving this demand, this is coupled with the uptake of Developers & Intermediaries moving more towards mixed use developments especially in and around the leisure destinations such as costal, wine lands, bush as well as golf estates &. Corporates are finding that Fractional Ownership purchases are proving to be a viable option for travelling executives as well as staff incentives.

Fractionalownership.co.za has seen dramatic increases in traffic to the site over the past six months. “Over the past six months product and sales enquiries have increased by more than 130% on our site” comments Werner Geyser, co-owner of www.fractionalownership.co.za. “We have also identified an additional 35 new intermediaries that have entered the market as promoters of this exciting product in Souht Africa over the past year”, he adds.

This year's conference will cover key aspects of the rapidly Fractional Ownership industry in Southern Africa. Delegates will learn about various key aspects of the Fractional Ownership market in South Africa, as well as how the Global Vacation Ownership markets are performing. Speaker topics include:

• Trends & performance in Southern Africa & Global markets.
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• Why are developers focusing more and more on mixed used developments?
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• Defining the sectors of the Vacation Ownership industry.
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• Industry regulation in South Africa.
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• Legal structures & Finance options.
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• Tax implications for companies as well as investors.
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• Hospitality & on-going investor management.