New Ideas in the Vacation Home Market
![handle is hein.journals/stjohn48 and id is 1215 raw text is: NEW IDEAS IN THE VACATION
HOME MARKET
Until recently, the luxury of owning a vacation home was limited
to the wealthy.1 However, fundamental forces operating in society
throughout the 1960's changed this situation dramatically. [Rjising
disposable income, the continuing deterioration of urban centers, and
changing life-styles . . .2 caused a wider segment of the populace to
seek the benefits of resort home living. Moreover, the popularity of the
second automobile to be used for pleasure driving and the growth of
such recreational activities as surfing, sailing and skiing led to the occa-
sional long weekend and concerted efforts to implement the four-day
work week. Accordingly, the vacation home market became an im-
portant segment of the real estate industry.
The ideal recreation zone to accommodate this changing life-style
tends to be approximately one hundred and fifty miles from large
urban centers. This distance enables harried urbanites to jump into
their cars on Friday afternoon and arrive at the beach or ski slopes
within four hours.
Throughout the 1960's, the vacation home industry was able to
satisfy this demand by utilizing available tracts of raw land which were
susceptible to resort development and within driving range of the city.3
However, as prime resort land became more difficult to find and the
costs of construction increased sharply,4 many people were priced out
of the vacation home market. This situation was compounded by the
imposition of environmental safeguards by many states in reaction to
the helter-skelter spoliation of their landscape.5
Notwithstanding these factors, the demand for resort accommoda-
tions increased.6 One contributing factor was increased mobility en-
1 Prior to the phenomenon characterized by John Kenneth Galbraith as the Affluent
Society, ownership of recreational homes was concentrated in the hands of the wealthy.
Robbins, The Recreation Condominium, 1 REAL ESTATE REV., Fall 1971, at 5 [hereinafter
cited as The Recreation Condominium].
2 Braun, Marketing Recreation Property: A Strategy for Survival and Profit, 3 REAL
ESrATE REV., Summer 1972, at 83.
3 Liebman, Can Condominium Time-Sharing Work? 3 REAL EsTATE Rnv., Fall 1973, at
40 [hereinafter cited as Liebman].
4 A recent survey indicated that construction costs are rising at a rate of well over
10% per year. This rate is attributable to inflation and shortages of materials. See 1 U.S.
REAL ESTATE WEEK, May 13, 1974, at 24.
5 See, e.g., VT. STAT. ANN. tit. 10, § 6042 et seq. (Supp 1971). See generally S. CoM.
ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR APFAias, LAND USE POLICY AND PLANNING ASSISTANCE Act, S.
REP. No. 93-197, 93d Cong., 1st Sess. (1973); Brownwell, State Land Use Regulation-
Where Are We Going? 9 REAL PROP. PROBATE AND TRusT J. 29 (1974); 1 U.S. REAL
ESTATE WEEK, April 8, 1974, at 5.
6 A survey conducted prior to October, 1973 indicated that the second home market-
1203](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/stjohn48&div=70&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
New Ideas in the Vacation Home Market
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most