Timeshare Sales Expected to Decrease as Smart Consumers Cut Back Spending

This year, vacation timeshare sales in the US may drop at considerable level since the industry gained popularity in the 1970s as consumers decrease their spending because of the recession. The said recession also resulted to most owners trying to get out of their timeshares as they cut back spending. According Howard Nusbaum, president and chief executive officer of the American Resort Development Association, a Washington-based trade group, they are expecting a sales drop of 30 percent this year from 2008.

Chris Woronka, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York stressed out that timeshares are very discretionary items that people are reluctant to pay under the current economic circumstances. Last year, US timeshare sales dropped 8.5% to $9.7 billion from a peak of $10.6 billion in 2007. This decline was the industry’s first since 1975 and is believed to be driven by tighter credit, a higher personal savings rate and the loss of millions of jobs since the recession broke out in December 2007.

This year, timeshare sales are down as hotel deals are becoming better and owners consider that they can stay in a luxury hotel for a lesser cost a night compared to what they are paying for their timeshares.

Currently, the decrease in timeshare sales is evident as there is an increasing number of owners who want to get rid of their timeshares. For most owners, it’s not even a matter of selling their timeshare units. It’s a matter of getting rid of it. That’s why some owners hire a timeshare transfer company like the Transfer Smart to cut off the disadvantages brought by timeshare ownership. In this way, they can ride out the current economic condition.