Boomers, Albertans drive white-hot demand for B.C. vacation property
Susan M. Boyce/Frank O'Brien , Western Investor - June 4, 2007
From Vancouver Island to the Kootenays, unprecedented demand
for recreational property has led to startling price increases and some innovative retirement concepts.
“British Columbia is at the leading edge
of the baby boomer bubble,” said developer
David Sorenson. “We have buyers coming
from across Canada and around the world.”
And they are coming well-heeled, indicative
of the most affluent retiree generation in
history.
This year, Sorenson Fine Homes began
marketing the master-planned strata-titled
King Edward Bay, a 48-lot upscale recreational
project on Bowen Island, just off the
coast of West Vancouver, where waterfront lots
start at $1.2 million and in-the-forest lots are in
the $400,000-$500,000 range. “We sold 21 lots
since January, “Sorenson said. He explained
many of the buyers are pre-retirees, planning
on securing a retirement home or investment
before they hit 65.
“At least two of our buyers are speculators,
I am proud to say,” Sorenson said. The older
buyers don’t want large homes, said Sorenson,
whose company is the exclusive builder,” but
they do demand luxury.”
Sorenson has seen similar action with its
waterview lot development, Patricia Bay in
North Saanich on Vancouver Island, with the
exception that many of the buyers are from
Alberta. At Patricia Bay, six of 15 lots have
sold with prices in the $400,000 range.
Ross McKeever, a real estate broker with
Colliers International, Victoria, agrees that
“the boomers are driving the market. They are
all looking for these recreational activities.”
McGeever noted it is local developers who
are cashing in on the boomer boom. The
Limona Group, for instance quickly sold out
a 75-lot waterfront development on Cowichan
Lake north of Victoria. At Mount Washington
ski resort, a first phase of building lots sold out
at $90,000, and the second phase, now coming
on stream, will start at $115,000.
In the Comox Valley, which now offers
direct WestJet flights to both Calgary and
Edmonton, lot values have increased 23 per
cent in the past year and condominium prices
have shot up 40 per cent.
Okanagan
If you think the Island properties are in
demand, take a look at the Okanagan.
Recreational real estate in the Okanagan is
white hot and developers are responding with
increasingly upscale alternatives to the traditional
“weekend cottage.”
According to data from Landcor Data
Corporation, average sale prices across the
Okanagan rose 13.9 per cent between 2004 and
2005, 22.5 per cent from 2005 to 2006, and
have already jumped 11.1 per cent in just the
first three months of 2007.
Most industry insiders predict this upward
pressure on the bottom line will continue. “I
don’t believe prices are anywhere near topping
out yet,” says Randy Shier, principal of
Kelowna-based Mission Group. “As the eyes
of the world continue to focus here, demand
– and prices – is unlikely to do anything
but increase.” He cites the Mission Group’s
recently launched Sheerwater project, a 70-
acre subdivision on Lake Okanagan, where
two- to five-acre lots are commanding prices
as high as $2 million.
But when an offering is right, investors are
clearly far from shy about handing over the
dough. At Vernon's Silver Star, all 49 building
lots in the new Alpine Meadows neighbourhood
were snapped up within three hours of
coming on the market at prices ranging from
$220,000 to $440,000.
Feathertop, Big White’s newest ski-in/skiout
real estate development, near Kelowna,
sold out its entire first phase of 17 chalet homesites,
with a combined value of more than $5
million, minutes
after they
went on sale.
And last fall,
Watermark
Beach Resort in Osoyoos had buyers for 70
per cent of the 153 suites by end of opening
day, thus generating some $75 million of revenue.
Savvy developers are now also tapping into
another aspect of the Okanagan – B.C.’s burgeoning,
world-class wine industry.
The Osoyoos Indian Band has introduced
the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa as
an extension of their award-winning Nk’Mip
Winery. The band incorporated all the amenities
the Okanagan is famous for – golf, outdoor
sports, spa, fine dining and a cultural centre.
Vancouver-based development giant Concord
Pacific is taking note.
Concord's Greta Ranch master planned
community, set amid the Greta Ranch Vineyard
(part of the well established Cedar Creek
Winery) gives buyers an opportunity of vacationing
inside a working winery.
Matt Meehan , Concord's vice president of planning,
said, “This is a completely new type of product, one that’s
in its infancy.” He predicts the appeal of combining
a lock-and-go lifestyle with the allure
of a waterfront vineyard will make this a solid
investment option.
After bringing a series of successful projects
to market, including the $65 million Sundance
Resort at Big
W h i t e , J i m
H a m m o n d ,
director of new
development at
Legend Resorts, is about to take this innovative
new style of “vintage” offering one step
further. Veranda Beach is a 280-acre master
planned resort village located on the shores of
Lake Osoyoos and boasting a full mile and a
quarter of pristine, sandy beach. A feasibility
study is underway for the addition of an 18-
hole golf course, and boutique winery.
What makes this development unique is its
location directly opposite Osoyoos in Oroville,
Washington, where property values remain
significantly lower.
“You will be able purchase a beachfront villa
for just over US$900,000 at Veranda Beach,”
said Ian MacLeod, CEO of LandLaunch,
the company marketing the project. “The
same property in Kelowna would easily cost
$2 million – and you’d probably never find one
on a beach like this. Jim had the vision to look
across the lake and say: That is unique and
beautiful and I can do something with that. The
value proposition it represents is incredible.”
Still high on the radar for many is the combination
of recreational property and golf.
And the multi-phase, multi-award-winning
Predator Ridge in Vernon remains clearly
established as a destination of choice in this
category.
“There is a consistent demand from places
like Alberta, Europe, England and Australia,”
says Lisa Corcoran, director of marketing,
adding that the recently announced $8 million
runway extension to the Kelowna airport,
with direct flights to Sydney and Frankfurt,
will make this even more popular with the
international jet set.
Only a sixth of the way through development
toward a final count of approximately
1,800 residences of varying types, Predator
Ridge saw the first phase of Osprey Coach
Homes sell out in an hour, with prices starting
at more than half a million dollars.
“But it’s important to remember that here
in B.C. and in the Okanagan in particular, we
are still considered a very affordable place to
purchase when you compare it to the world
scale,” Corcoran stresses
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