Despite widespread global economic uncertainty, things appear to be looking up for Squamish real-estate prices.
During a week that also saw a group of more than 50 architects, builders and investors from Asia pay the town a visit, Squamish saw its first $2 million home sale for a 4,000-square-foot custom home on a two-acre property at the end of Rod Road in Brackendale.
The sale eclipses the $1.5 million transaction for a property on Finch Drive two years ago, and comes less than six years after Squamish's first $1 million home sale for a 3,600-square-foot Garibaldi Highlands in December 2005.
The sale of the Rod Road home closed on Friday (Sept. 9), Candice Dyer, the Sea to Sky Real Estate agent who sold the property, said on Tuesday (Sept. 13). The sale shows that buyers are starting to recognize the value offered in the Squamish market as compared to those to the north and south, Dyer said.
More and more home potential buyers now recognize that with improvements to Highway 99, they're only 45 to 50 minutes from Vancouver at a fraction of the price of what one would pay in the Vancouver area, and more accessible to the city than from, say, the Fraser Valley.
"I think people are starting to recognize what a superior place this is to live in, and they're looking for good value, which we offer here. It just makes so much more sense than to go two hours east," Dyer told The Chief.
Dyer and Pat Place, managing broker at Remax Sea to Sky, both said they've seen a marked increase in the number of potential higher-end buyers looking at Squamish as a good real-estate value.
"There was a time when many thought Squamish would never see the first $1 million home sale, let alone a $2 million sale, but even with slower market conditions and economic uncertainty in some countries, savvy home buyers have identified Squamish as a community that offers both great value and an unprecedented lifestyle," Place said in a statement.
Said Dyer, "It's (interest from high-end buyers) at least double from what I've seen in previous year."
The Rod Road property, which was sold by its original owners, includes a custom-built timber frame home, a carriage house, an in-ground saltwater pool, hot tub, duck pond and separate workshop.
While realtors also touted the value of other Squamish homes listed in the $1.3 million to $1.7 million range, it's not just higher-end properties that are drawing interest. Last Thursday (Sept. 8), a group of 50 architects, home builders and investors from Japan, Korea and Taiwan visited Squamish during a tour of the Lower Mainland, Squamish and Whistler that was part of a Global Buyers Mission organized by the B.C. Wood Specialties Group and the international branch of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC).
The group took in a presentation from the developers of the Tantalus Crossing project, a 42-unit townhome development for which construction is just underway between Highway 99 and Tantalus Way.
This is the sixth straight year in which the Global Buyers' Mission has visited Squamish, Gena Belanger of MacDonald Realty Ltd., which is marketing the units, said on Tuesday. She said the delegates were impressed by the value in the Squamish market as compared to elsewhere nearby.
"They were just blown away by the town the views, for one thing, and the density," she said. "They could not believe our population base compared to where they are. They were excited to come back and view the product when it's completed."
The units are being offered in the $350,000 to $400,000 range, Belanger said.
"Squamish is a bargain and people were excited to see that. When they realized where we are on pricing per square foot, they were completely shocked," she said. "They had been in Vancouver looking at projects and they were blown away to see the value we offer here."
