The Wall Street Journal’s quarterly survey of the housing market published today revealed that areas popular among vacation home buyers are among the hardest hit by the economic downturn and are likely to continue to be impacted.

The Journal’s analysis looked at 28 metropolitan areas taking into account both prospective growth as well as current housing sales inventory as it relates to the recent pace of sales activity. Among the areas struggling the most are the Phoenix area, a popular winter home location for snowbirds, San Diego, which attracts part-time residents fleeing Arizona’s summer heat, and Las Vegas which has seen a massive building boom over the last few years including numerous high rise residences on or just off the Strip. The average home prices have dropped 25 percent in Las Vegas over the last 12 months, according to the Journal which pulled home value data from Zillow.com. Not surprisingly several Florida cities including Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando were noted for their high sales inventory and drop in the average value of homes over the last 12 months. In Miami and Ft. Lauderdale alone, it would take some 34 months to sell all of the homes available at the current sales pace.

So how does a consumer in the market for a vacation retreat digest these latest gloomy numbers? Depends on the product. The sales slowdown has undoubtedly hit the condo-hotel market hard as some projects in those areas face foreclosure and even potential lawsuits from buyers. Fractional projects continue to spring up but we’ve seen fewer announcements of new developments in those areas as big name developers eye more urban markets like San Francisco and popular vacation destinations outside of the U.S. such as Cabo San Lucas. There are also destination clubs, which in some respects, allow potential buyers to sit on the real estate sidelines by making an investment in a club, rather than deeded ownership. Most clubs offer just an 80 percent refund on the deposit membership but when housing prices are still dipping in area like south Florida perhaps today’s buyers can find comfort in parting with just 20 percent of their outlay.