In today's Honolulu Advertiser, Andrew Gomes discusses in detail the rise of fractional ownership in Hawaii.

 Growing numbers of local real-estate agents have recently begun marketing "fractional ownership" of homes where up to six buyers purchase interests, allowing each one to use the property 60 days a year. Homes for sale as fractional, or shared, use have emerged partly as a strategy to put Hawai'i vacation homes back within reach of more buyers who have been priced out of the market by the doubling of home values over the past five years

Legally what happens is each owner has a separate deed and some lenders are now providing separate financing.

 Yet the practice is largely in its infancy here, and the level of buyer demand for the product in many Hawai'i neighborhoods has yet to be demonstrated. Brokers are finding that fractionals aren't often understood by buyers, and aren't always welcome in communities, though in part this is because fractional ownership is a widely unfamiliar concept easily confused with time-share.

But as a practical matter, that is what it is. It is a private, limited, specific property, time-share. Upscale communities don't like it because they want reliable neighbors and one owner per unit makes that more likely.

Several real estate agents said they view fractionals as a way to sell a home for more than they might as a whole, as well as a way to expand the potential to sell homes in a slowing market.

We know that appraisers will appraise a fractionalized property at up to a 40% premium over one that is wholly owned. But one question people have yet to satisfactorily answer is how much is January-February ownership worth compared to May-June or September-October? More is a reasonable answer, but to what degree?

We are not yet persuaded that in upscale communities like Kapalua, Wailea and Ka'anapali that this is going to be the big wave some are forecasting.