The changing in the economic cycle often ushers in whole new genres of products that fit with the new times. Or, a product that was in circulation at the margins of the market suddenly gathers greater popularity as the changing times bring it into greater relevance. For example, think of all the services that have grown up during the years of plenty from 1994 to 2007. Dry cleaning services that collect and deliver. More and more takeaway food options. Then there are even services that bring you restaurant cuisine to your home parties.
Just as new products and services come to the fore in good times, so things also change in tougher times. Think of the pound shops which are reporting a brisk trade. You will also see that during these tougher times, many people made redundant will make good. Just the other day I was speaking with a friend who lives nearby who is newly expecting a baby. He and his wife have both been made redundant recently yet there was not a hint of pessimism between them. In fact he was busy launching a new e/mobile marketing company.One style of property that I think is going to become more popular is fractional ownership. During the noughties, this became quite popular amongst the aspiring elite to enable them to ape the lifestyles of the elite themselves. Instead of owning a vast yacht you could part own one. Rather than own your own place you would part own one. There has been a spawning of sports car clubs along these lines.
Sometimes the line dividing fractional ownership and timeshare has been paper-thin. In reality, if the asset is a depreciating one (yachts) it scarcely matters. There is no benefit of fractionally owning a declining asset against timesharing one. But it is a very different when it comes to property. Aside from timesharing attracting an iffy image due to bad practices, the timeshare owner does not enjoy any stake in what may be an appreciating asset. The timeshare owner is essentially buying time in advance in bulk and this saving on weekly holiday costs by doing so. The fractional owner enjoys all of the same benefits but can also look forward to benefiting from an appreciation that the property makes over the years. This can be sold. Thus, it is a lifestyle investment rather than just a lifestyle option.
The other upside to fractional ownership over outright ownership is that (a) it is more affordable (b) you can have more of a spread of properties for the same cash and (c) you don’t need to manage the property or let it out (this is done by a managing agent who will take care of the whole property). At present fractional property ownership tends to occupy the higher rungs of the property market, with higher value properties for the top wealth tiers of the population.
My bet is that this concept will start to make its way throughout the property sector as developers seek to find new ways to appeal to customers who still have the same needs but less cash.
Source:Ready2invest http:www.ready2invest.co.uk