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CONDOS

By
Real Estate Agent with West USA Realty Revelation

A new National Association of Realtors study estimates that sales of vacation homes in 2007 fell 31%, to 740,000, from 2006. But sales of condos dipped only slightly -- down 2.8% -- while sales of detached homes dropped 38%. The upshot is that condos cornered a substantially larger share of the vacation-home market last year: 29%, up from 21% in 2006.

Condos are selling better than single-family vacation houses for a number of reasons. They don't require their owners to maintain lawns, trim shrubs, paint the exteriors or replace roofs -- increasingly important concerns to an aging population. Condo communities also tend to offer amenities such as pools and clubhouses. And condos usually are cheaper to buy, and easier to resell, than houses.

[photo]
Urban living on vacation. This airy condo in a converted winery in Harbert, Mich., attracted Mary Morrissey and her husband, who found the area's typical cottages along Lake Michigan cramped and dark.