Leisure Living: Prices holding up in ski areas

Several Internet listing sites offer online listings of second homes, such as ResortScape.com and LandWatch.com, both operated by a single company, SecondSpace. Other sites for vacation home listings and real estate agents who specialize in second homes include HomeAway.com and EscapeHomes.com.

Both SecondSpace sites have a total of about 1 million listings of second homes and land for sale. Gary Cowan, vice president of products for SecondSpace, said he's seen a significant uptick in visitors interested in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Cowan also pointed out some emerging, more affordable second home markets in the West that are attracting interest: Sequim, Wash.; Bishop, Calif; St. George, Utah; and Lewiston, Colo.

The SecondSpace sites also attract foreign investors with an eye toward buying a property in the West, a consistent source of demand for U.S. second homes.

The NAR's Profile of International Home Buying Activity for 2008 showed 55 percent of international buyers of U.S. homes viewed it as a vacation home, and more than 70 percent of agents said the activity level from foreign buyers has stayed constant over the past five years.

Because of the weak dollar, Cowan said, "A lot of (foreign buyers) are seeing great bargain opportunities ... in properties that once were totally out of reach."

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