When Robert and Jeannie Hidey went to Bachelor Gulch in Colorado three years ago, they figured they would ski five days and see their daughter who attended college nearby. The last thing they expected was to buy a second home.

It was their first time at the ski resort, but they liked what they saw: relatively uncrowded slopes, plenty of things do off the mountain and proximity to Vail and Aspen.

So when they walked by a sales office at the Ritz-Carlton hotel where they were staying, they decided to go in. Ritz-Carlton was selling fractional shares of its 54 residences next door.

For $280,000, the Hideys bought a 12th share in a two-bedroom residence, which includes daily housekeeping service and lift tickets for three weeks a year. If they can't make it one year, they can exchange their time for stays at one of Ritz's three other fractional properties in places such as Jupiter, Fla., or the Virgin Islands.

"We could not afford to buy a home there for all the time. It would be a waste of our investment money," said Jeannie Hidey, 50, whose primary home is in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. "This is a long-term investment that we can pass on to our two daughters."

Fractional real estate, or shared ownership, is growing rapidly, increasing to $1.65 billion in sales last year for the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, up more than 30 percent from 2005.

Such properties appeal to buyers who want exclusive getaways but who might be unwilling or unable to purchase a second home they will use for only a few weeks a year.

Unlike time shares, fractionals carry a title of ownership and are marketed as high-end vacation homes, typically costing an average of 10 times as much as a time share.

"The younger generation of buyers is viewing it as an alternative to full ownership because of the ease," said John Melicharek, head of the tourism-industry practice at the law firm of Baker Hostetler in Orlando, Fla. "It's become a convenient way to own a second home without all of the problems."

As of January, 249 fractional developments existed in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, a 39 percent increase from 2005, according to NorthCourse Leisure Real Estate Solutions, a consulting group in Parsippany, N.J. According to Ragatz Associates -- a consulting and market research company in Eugene, Ore., that tracks the resort industry -- 40,000 households, or about 1 percent of all households in the country that earn more than $200,000 a year, have purchased fractionals.

Although sales have declined in some areas, the overall housing slowdown doesn't seem to have had much impact on the sales of fractionals in North America.

When buyers purchase fractionals, which are typically marketed to people who make at least $200,000, they are buying a portion of a condominium, town house or house and receive a deed to the property. A time share, by contrast, is shared among as many as 50 buyers who pay for specific blocks of time and typically don't own a share of the property. Time is bought by the week and often costs between $10,000 and $30,000.

Shares in fractionals typically range from a quarter to a 13th, and buyers get as much as three months in their units. Depending on the project, owners get multiple weeks that are either fixed or rotate among owners. The units come furnished and carry annual dues, which can be as high as $18,000, for maintenance, insurance, utilities and property taxes.

Fractionals are available from Manhattan to Colorado ski resorts to the Arizona desert. They often come with expensive appliances, finishes and furniture and have a staff to stock refrigerators, tune skis and place owners' gear in their units before they arrive.

"When you're selling these things, you don't want it to look, smell or act like a time share," said Douglas O'Reilly, vice president for advisory services at NorthCourse.

Large hotel operators such as Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International, Wyndham Worldwide and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts have taken note and rolled out dozens of fractional projects the past four years under their own names or as Ritz-Carltons and St. Regises. In the process, they have added a greater sense of legitimacy to fractional ownership, said Bill Lerner, senior lodging analyst at Deutsche Bank in Las Vegas. In New York, for instance, Starwood has turned two floors of the St. Regis Hotel on 55th Street at 5th Avenue into fractionals that sell for $300,000 to $750,000. Owners can stay in the 22 units, which range in size from studios to two-bedrooms, for up to 28 days a year.

Banks also have started offering specialized loans for fractionals so buyers don't have to rely on home-equity loans, sell stocks or bonds, or cash in bank accounts. Such loans can be more difficult to get than ones for primary residences, however. First Fractional Funding of Greenwood Village, Colo., for example, requires a minimum credit score of 700, said Scott Christian, its president.

It's difficult, however, to determine long-term appreciation in the fractional market. Sales histories are spotty because fractionals have been widely sold only the past four years.

In expensive ski towns such as Aspen and Vail, sales and prices have remained strong because there is little developable land and demand remains high. But in Florida, Las Vegas and Mammoth Lakes, Calif., prices seem to have stagnated, and some projects have been canceled.

"In many markets, fractionals have slowed down like full ownership," said Wallace M. Hobson, managing director for the Americas at NorthCourse.

Many buyers purchase fractionals not as an investment but as a vacation alternative.

Chris Roden, 44, an investment manager in Miami Beach, Fla., bought a fractional in Colorado because he said he was fed up with expensive rentals that were far from the ski lifts.

Five years ago, he bought a three-bedroom fractional at the Timbers Club at Snowmass for $280,000 so he could be right on the mountain.

A year later, he bought another three-bedroom fractional for the same price at the Rocks Luxury Residence Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. He said the units are a way for his family to vacation in million-dollar homes without having to buy one.

"This is a way to have that lifestyle without the price."

The Hideys seem to agree. Last year, they bought a wholly owned two-bedroom residence and a similar-size fractional for $1.8 million and $280,000, respectively, at a Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. They plan to use the fully owned unit as a second home and let guests and clients of Robert Hidey's architecture firm use the fractional.

"With the Ritz, you just know you're always going to have that same level of quality," Jeannie Hidey said. "We want that Ritz-Carlton type of service."

"This is a way to have that (million-dollar) lifestyle without the price."

Chris Roden

investment manager