The industry is now organized into three subsectors: fractional ownership, private residence clubs and destination clubs. According to Ragatz Associates, which tracks the industry, the first two are basically the same, but private residence clubs are a more upscale version of fractional ownership. Destination clubs are more like country club memberships, in which people pay an initiation fee for access to rent and stay in luxury homes.

Mr. Herr bought his share in 2008 in the Beach Club Resort in the town of Parksville on Vancouver Island. He and his wife had selected Victoria, another town on the island, to retire.

“There was a train from Victoria to Parksville, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to take a train two and a half hours away?’” he said. “It was something new.”

But within a few years, the train had lost so much money that it closed, and Mr. Herr’s feeling about his investment soured. Having bought his share as the real estate bubble was bursting, he held on as most of the value went out of the fractional market.

The fractional industry in North America peaked in 2007, with $2.3 billion in sales, but it has been in decline ever since. Last year, sales were $471 million, with 61 percent coming from destination clubs.

In its annual report, Ragatz Associates said several factors had aligned against fractional ownership. Among them were a decrease in home equity, which buyers had previously been able to tap to buy fractional shares that were tough to finance; a glut of vacation homes for sale and the lowering of prices to sell them; and competition from home-sharing sites, like Vrbo and Airbnb.