But as countries recognize the value of the second-home market, ownership rules are being relaxed.

To be sure, the second-home market is a curious animal.

She estimated that the second-home market makes up a third to nearly half of all residential sales.

Some experts recommend finding a lender with experience in the second-home market.

In the second-home market, too, sellers are making their moves.

Here is a guide to some of the most dynamic foreign second-home markets.

Brokers in many second-home markets say they find people are ready to buy, and that money is not their first concern.

"The very high-end second-home market is going to be a long time returning."

In second-home markets around the country, the number of sales is shrinking even as the properties on the market increase.

But as the country has become one of the Continent's hottest second-home markets, all that is about to change.