Are California Vacation Homes a Good Buy Now? You Decide.

California might be a great place to pick up a vacation home right now, declares real estate commentator Broderick Perkins. He notes that the California Association of Realtors reported this fall that the median price of housing in key coastal and tourist areas was way way down -- down "50 percent to nearly 60 percent in the Monterey and Monterey County regions; down 30 to 50 percent in Santa Barbara regions; down more than 42 percent in Palm Springs; down 35 percent in Los Angeles; down 33 percent in San Diego and the Wine Country; down 32 percent in Santa Cruz; and down 29 percent in San Francisco Bay Area." Then he quotes others, such as Christine Karpinski, director of Owner Community for HomeAway.com, as arguing that buyers with cash who can buy and then rent out a vacation home can make it a nice investment. However, these owners should be able to pay the monthly mortgage with enough rental weeks to eke out a profit.

Shell,Tipi,Yurt: Yours to Rent

I'm bored with hotel rooms, condos and the like. Next time I head toward Litchfield, Connecticut I want to stay in the geodesic dome featured by HomeAway.com, a major vacation rental site, in its gathering of "Top Ten Most Unique Vacation Rentals." Number One on the list: A curvy shell house in Isla Mujeres, Mexico on the beach, complete with a pool, that HomeAway says would be where the Little Mermaid would vacation on land. At $1,500 to $2,000 a week, it looks ideal for a honeymoon. Others: a tipi near Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, just over the Montana line...yurt in Santa Barbara, California...and two kinds of tree houses in Costa Rica and California.