Recreational property market stabilizes, but Saltspring and Tofino still pricey
Carla Wilson -Times Colonist - Published: Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Canada's recreational properties are returning to more balanced market conditions as more listings come on the market but Saltspring Island properties are holding tight to their value.
That's because demand has increased for B.C.'s Gulf Island properties where the Islands Trust conservation rules have capped growth, said Li Read, of Re/Max Realty of Saltspring Island. "It's a limited inventory." Fly over the Gulf Islands to see "an awful lot of green," Read said Tuesday. "The Trust has done a wonderful, wonderful thing."
Piece of Paradise - Mclean's Magazine
UNTIL RECENTLY, Rose Keith's dream of owning a cottage in the Gulf Islands looked like a long shot -- a privilege reserved for those blessed with inheritance or excellent stock tips. In the last few years, B.C.'s southern archipelago has become as much a playground for rich humans as for orcas and sea lions, with oceanfront lots commanding more than $700,000 and buyers flocking from the U.S. and Europe to retire in paradise. Keith and her husband Bart Bender, by contrast, were working demanding jobs in Vancouver to support 11-month-old twin girls. "It wasn't," the 37-year-old lawyer admits, "the best time for us to go looking."
But when a friend alerted her earlier this year to a unique-sounding opportunity on Pender Island, Keith's pulse quickened. Rather than competing for existing properties, she and Bender could buy a quarter share of a cottage overlooking Otter Bay, a nook on the island's west shore, where small ferries putter back and forth and herons stand like sentries on the tide lines. For about $140,000, plus annual maintenance fees, they'd get 12 weeks a year -- including two weeks in the summer -- in a tastefully decorated cottage while a management company looked after cleaning the eaves and waxing the floors. Unlike common time-shares, which confer right of use but no title to the land, their so-called "fractional ownership" would give them a portion of the entire 31-unit development. Keith remained nervous about acquiring a second residence, but as she perused the brochures, she couldn't help thinking of her previous visits to the Gulf Islands. Soaring eagles. Breaching whales. Warm afternoons on the water.
This is not an offering for sale. An offering for sale can only be made in accordance with a disclosure statement.