Vacation ownership developer Seasons Holidays has sold all units in its first fractional resort in Spain to existing timeshare clients.

The 43 apartments in Forest Hills in the Sierra de Ronda mountains were sold as eighth fractions costing between £28,000 and £40,000, within eight months of the resort being refurbished and upgraded from its previous timeshare model.

“We offered the properties to our existing timeshare clients who wanted more of a real estate investment,” Seasons’ marketing director, Leslie McCann, told OPP. “Not one person went down to see the resort before buying because they were already customers who trusted us.”

The units will be sold after 16 years, offering buyers a guaranteed exit strategy with a share of potential profits, and were designed as a mass-market product. “A quarter share is too big for the average man in the street,” said McCann. “This is still a lifestyle product but it’s a stepping stone to whole ownership.”

Fractional sales had helped the company to achieve its best year on record, he added. “Forest Hills is our only 100% fractional resort and most have a mixture of timeshare and whole ownership as well. But the future is fractional. Some of our buyers even bought multiple fractions across several of our resorts.”

The properties are managed by Seasons and owners can avoid paying management fees by choosing to lease the properties back to the developer for half their usage time. Seasons is also affiliated with holiday exchange network Interval International and owners can swap their weeks for time in other resorts.