After looking at waterfront property around the province for much of the day, I consider a single family lake or oceanfront property under $650, 000 to be a good price on southern Vancouver Island and in the current market. While investigating the market in our 5th area for single family waterfront sales this week (Duncan Rural), I got excited about some of the seemingly good opportunities around the Duncan area. According to our stats from MyLandcor, Duncan Rural includes areas such as Shawnigan Lake , Mill Bay, Cowichan Lake, Youbou, Cherry Point, etc...
Having lived in Victoria most of my life, I remember Shawnigan Lake as a popular destination for summer getaways. In those days, it seemed a long way out of the city but with the recent growth of the Western Communities , it seems you are barely out of the city when you reach the infamous "Malahat." Now it seems these areas are just a hop, skip and a jump from Victoria and with the population of Victoria spilling over the Malahat into areas like Mill Bay, Duncan and Shawnigan Lake I am suprised that the waterfront prices aren't higher. While Cowichan Lake is a little farther away, it is still within a two hours drive of downtown Victoria-not bad as a vacation destination considering Ozzie Jurock considers anything 4 hours from Vancouver a shoe-in for vacation property.
Our member Realtor, Norm deWit, owner of Osborne Realty and www.waterfrontvancouverisland.com, specializes in waterfront on the Island and particularly the area around Duncan including Lake Cowichan, Shawnigan Lake, Youbou, etc...While Norm's office says this year was a bit slower (which our stats reflect-click here for reference), the average sale price for single family waterfront in this region only increased (so far) by just over $65, 000-a far cry from other areas such as the Sunshine Coast, where prices in some areas went up over $300, 000 since last year. A quick search of the MLS "Duncan" region shows lakefront for under $500, 000 and even oceanfront property close to $400, 000 (!)
Who is buying in this area? Norm says they are seeing buyers mainly from Alberta and other parts of B.C. but also some from Europe, the U.S. and even Mexico.
Norm's value pick's for the area are listed below:
I know that I usually only write my blogs once a week but after looking through the local paper this morning I felt the need to write a short entry today to keep you all up to date with the latest waterfront news.
For a few weeks now, there has been a rumour going around the Comox Valley that Oprah has purchased the famed Filberg house in Comox, currently on the market for $10, 000 000.I first heard about it from my husband's barber who, as the story goes, had a client who lived next door to the famed house and had been told that it had sold to Oprah. Sounds like a really trusted source, right? LOL
Anyhow, I decided to dig deeper into the story to see what I could find out. The listing Realtor's office said that the property was still for sale, but that the property next door had sold mid-summer. This was around the same time that Oprah sailed up the island on Jimmy Pattison's yacht, apparently stopping to dine just off of Denman Island and visiting the village of Alert Bay further north on the island. The office claims that this is the only way they could have seen the rumour getting started (although I'm sure if a high profile buyer like Oprah had purchased in the Valley the office wuld be mum about it anyhow).
I didn't realize how fast the story got around until I opened up the local paper today to find an article, which basically reiterates what I had already discovered-that it was all a rumour, but alludes to the possibility that it could have been Jimmy Pattison who might have been interested in real estate here.
This brings me to another rumour that has been circulating here, which is that Donald Trump apparently mentioned the Comox Valley as being one of the best places to buy on an Oprah show last year. I have never written about this either, as I have never had proof of it. I even wrote to the show to ask about it but never heard back. If anyone has any proof of this, please drop us an email at blogtips@waterfrontwest.com and we'll look into it.
Finally, a record breaking waterfront sale in West Vancouver. A home on Radcliffe Ave. sold for $30, 000 000-(more than any house in Canada) to a Canadian(!) Annual taxes on the property are close to a mere $100, 000. Click here to see video (watch Thursday news).
With the recent California wildfires, you may catch a glimpse of our #3 waterfront area on your local news. Located near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island,Sproat Lake, which accounts for the majority of waterfront sales in the Alberni Valley is home to the Mars water bombers that are due to arrive in San Diego today. Our member real estate agent Dave Koszegi of RE/MAX Mid-Island Realty and owner of www.midislandhomes.com, gave us the rundown on the waterfront market in the Alberni Valley.
Waterfront (Single Family) on Sproat Lake can range anywhere from around $600, 000 - $1, 500, 000; however, Sproat Lake properties have been listed for up to $4, 000, 000 (!) in the past. Dave says last summer was a busy one for Sproat Lake waterfront. He has had 29 sales transactions for lakefront properties over the course of the season and has noticed (as have some of our other agents) a recent surge of activity again in the waterfront market. Note: I like to think this is due to my recent blog, which recommended that now is a great time to buy waterfront, but I'm sure there are other contributing factors. Perhaps the short summer left us pining for more sun and dreaming of lazy days by the beach.
One of the most surprising things that came up in my conversation with Dave was the fact that although the market is extremly busy, he has not seen many buyers from Alberta in the area. This seems to be an anomaly in the B.C. waterfront market. Dave says he has seen some interest from Europeans as well as Californians, but comments that the bulk of the buyers hail from large B.C. cities. Indeed, with it's location on central Vancouver Island, it makes sense that B.C. buyers (particularly from Victoria) looking for vacation property would find Sproat Lake attractive with it's affordable (in waterfront terms) prices and abundance of recreational opportunities.
Dave says his hottest properties so far this year have been eight luxury townhouses in a gated community, six of which sold right away, listed between $629, 000 and $750, 000. With the majority of buyers hailing from Vancouver and Victoria and buying primarily for vacation purposes, it makes sense that these would be popular given the low maintenance requirements. Another hot product at the lake is the Dockside on Sproat Lake Community, with only 3 of 8 semi-waterfront lots still available (priced from $269, 900). Links to both properties are available below:
