The spectacular growth witnessed during the 1980s and 1990s in traditional lifestyle markets has slowed to a crawl, and in some cases has moved over into slump territory. Agents and developers have seen their cash cows grow sick; the rise of the emerging markets during the early part of this decade was driven to a great degree by the need to find alternatives to markets which had become overpriced and were reeking of stagnation. But there are only so many lifestyle buyers to go round – and for the investor, looking for a solid and relatively quick return on his or her investment, serious concerns arose over the fact that the growth in the number of buyers due to rising affluence was exceeded, significantly, by the growth in the number of available properties and in the proliferation of distinct markets.

In short, while it’s never been easier to buy a lifestyle home abroad, it’s rarely been harder to sell one at a substantial profit; there are simply too many other properties on the market, and why would one buy a used holiday home when one can pick up a new-build one just down the road (and, increasingly, with some tempting incentives thrown in by an ever-hungry developer) without having to stump up to fund a previous owner’s profit?

Of course, capital growth is only one part of the investment equation. Just as important – especially for the vast majority of investors paying for at least a proportion of their purchases with mortgages or other financing – is rental income. But here too the rapid growth in the international property market has had negative consequences. So many buyers have made lifestyle purchases with the intention of letting out their properties that there is now, in many traditional destinations and a growing number of emerging markets, a glut of rental homes available for holidaymakers to choose from. This in turn means that marketing costs for owners have gone through the roof, while occupancy rates per unit have plummeted: in other words, it now costs a lot more to attract fewer guests paying lower rates.

Once again, it’s important to note that it is still possible to make money, in many markets, through rentals. But few in the industry would argue that owners now have to work much harder to turn a profit – and for those looking to take the easy route by taking on a rental management company, those profits then take a further hit when it comes to paying the company for their services (and woe betide anyone who doesn’t go through the small print with a fine-toothed comb to find out exactly how much those services cost).

And then there’s the spectre of an economic downturn. If the world’s leading economies take the hit which has looked on the cards for a while now, one of the first sectors to suffer will be the leisure and tourism industry. Less spending money means fewer holidays; fewer holidays mean fewer holidaymakers; fewer holidaymakers mean a substantial drop in rental income – and for those reliant on that rental income to pay a mortgage the consequences could be catastrophic.

Moreover, even during the best of times almost all lifestyle destinations are seasonal, so rental profits must be generated during certain, limited times of the year. Ski properties will almost certainly not be profitable during the summer; likewise, those looking to make money on the Mediterranean coast during the winter had better hope there’s something very extraordinary very nearby that’ll keep the punters coming even during the off-season. For buyers attempting to straddle the investment/lifestyle fence, this poses a further problem: does one enjoy the use of a lifestyle property in its prime, during the best months of the year, and accept that this comes at the cost of a couple of weeks’ prime rentals? Or does the owner compromise and visit his or her property during a quieter part of the year when the financial consequences may be minimal but when he or she simply won’t make the most of the home because there’s no snow, or it’s too cold, or the best restaurants, bars and clubs in the area haven’t opened yet?

Meanwhile, the cities just keep on growing, hour upon hour, day after day, all year round.