SecondSpace launches Canada, UK real estate sites

SecondSpace, an online marketplace targeting the second-home market, today launched three new Web sites in Canada and the United Kingdom that aim to connect brokers, developers and agents to buyers and owners of vacation property around the globe.

ResortScape.CA, ResortScape.Co.UK and LandWatch.Co.UK feature more than 600,000 vacation properties, new developments, luxury condos, villas, ski chalets, cottages, home sites, ranches and acreages in destinations throughout the United States, Canada and more than 40 additional countries, according to a company announcement.

The sites are powered by SecondSpace's Web platform that sorts more than 1.5 million property listings to determine those that match the desired "second home" lifestyle.

SecondSpace was founded in 2006 by two Internet veterans -- former Classmates executive Anil Pereira, and former Microsoft technical leader Alok Sinha. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company launched its first two Web sites, LandWatch.com and ResortScape.com, in 2007. (See Inman News story.)

"The global market for second homes and land continues to see considerable cross-border buying activity, driven largely by baby boomers and buyers interested in overseas investment opportunities," Pereira said today in a prepared statement.

The slumping U.S. market and weakening dollar have made foreign buyers attractive to many U.S. companies. Overseas buyers continue to see the U.S. as an attractive market for purchasing a vacation home or investment property, according to a recent National Association of Realtors report.

Real estate brokerages and agents who upload their listings into the SecondSpace network via ResortScape.com or LandWatch.Com automatically gain syndication into the new ResortScape.CA, ResortScape.co.UK and LandWatch.co.UK Web sites, the company said. Listings can be uploaded via one of SecondSpace's supported partners or through a self-service tool found on the Web sites.

SecondSpace also offers featured placement for various listings with the purchase of a subscription.

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