BELIEVERS: Funky, one-of-a-kind retailers are making the area a destination spot

Jeani Read
Province

Joani Rustulka loves the idea of living in the gritty part of town. “It’s an awesome place to live,” the 27-year-old web designer said as she scoped out the Woodward’s display suite. “I want to be an urban dweller.”

Rustulka already is — she lives in the West End — but has friends living in Gastown lofts and likes that edgy feel. She came to view the display last week with Brian Leroux, also 27, a computer programmer who works downtown, bought a home in the suburbs but wants to come back.

“The area is definitely on the cusp. [Woodward’s] will revitalize it and be a cornerstone,” he said. “It’s a smart time to buy.”

SALES STORY

Huh? Rave reviews about an area notorious for being hard edge? Yes, meet what may be the new Vancouver, footed firmly in the past.

The buzz is all about Woodward’s, the amazing sales story: from slum central just a few years ago to a tickety-boo condo development with more than 6,000 applicants world-wide vying for its 536 sleek, modern, condo suites. They’ll likely be close to sold out by now (at $200,000 to $600,000, with a few up to $800,000) on the reverse-snobbery theory that on the edge is the only place to feel at home.

“Be bold or move to suburbia,” is the tag line.

It’s very much condo-king Bob Rennie’s baby and, with 200 social- housing suites, a grocery store, drugstore (no jokes, please) and SFU campus, it will provide the anchor for the neighbourhood.

“It’s a sustainable community,” says Rennie of those crucial add-ons.

IT’S ALL GOOD NEWS

It’s not just Gastown, it’s the whole historical heart of the city that’s slated for revival: Gastown, Chinatown, the bleak Hastings corridor and Victory Square. And something about this plan brings out the optimist in just about everyone involved.

For every naysayer worried about drugs, prostitution and poverty, there are yea-sayers so positive it’s easy to believe that soon the place will become the funky, idyllic live/shop/work zone envisioned for decades. According to many, it’s already on the way.

“This is one of the good stories, and it’s going to happen,” says city heritage planner Zlatan Jankovic. “It’s all good news.”

“Gastown is the new centre for an emerging residential neighbourhood,” says developer and Gastown Business Improvement Society past-president John Stovell.

“It’s not about how, if somebody shows up in a nice car, the poor people have to leave. It’s about having a more balanced proportion.”

Even Rennie waxes a bit lyrical.

“I think we all have to live together,” he says. He is also putting his money where his sales pitch is. His offices will be moving to the Win Sang building, the oldest building in Chinatown.

Woodward’s opens in 2009. In the meantime, all kinds of other projects have also been bringing the area back to life.

Since Vancouver’s heritage incentives were put in place three years ago, says Jankovic, the response has been “overwhelming. We expected maybe seven projects a year, but in 2006 there will probably be 16. It’s a very exciting time, and will be more exciting very soon.”

OVERWHELMING RESPONSE

Not bad for a part of town that about 12 years ago, almost exactly the same moment that Woodward’s closed, slipped from being a “vibrant, prosperous part of the city” to skid row.

Stovell’s Reliance Holdings has created great new rental housing. Sean Heather owns local properties and businesses, including Irish Heather, Limerick Junction, Shebeen Whiskey Bar and the Salty Tongue deli. Developer Scott Hawthorn is building commercial/retail space and is a partner with Heather in the new wine bar Salt.

And there’s more: Marc Williams is about to complete the long-waited condo project Koret Lofts. Inform’s Nancy and Niels Bendtsen are opening a new 30,000-square foot home design store.

Projects like The Salient Group’s Terminus condos are set to transform old structures. New condos in Chinatown like Rennie’s East are also having their effect.

Funky, edgy, one-of a kind retailers like Richard Kidd, Modern Kids, Hunter Gatherer and Livestock are making Gastown a destination spot. It’s a mix of the best of old and new, in market housing, rental properties, commercial ventures and live/work spaces.

“My opinion is, even if Woodward’s didn’t happen, Gastown has already turned the corner,” says Heather.

“It’s beyond the point of no return. Woodward’s is the icing on the cake. It’s the cherry on top of the sundae.”

© The Vancouver Province 2006

SCAMS: Crime, including identity theft, costs Canadians as much as $1.5 billion a year

Wendy McLellan
Province

Runaway housing prices and a highly competitive mortgage industry are contributing to a growing problem with mortgage fraud across the country, experts say.

But it’s a complex issue — and one lenders don’t really want to talk about.

“Mortgage fraud is a problem, and I don’t think anybody can deny it,” said Ken Fraser, executive director of investigations for B.C.’s Financial Institutions Commission, which investigates fraud complaints involving mortgage brokers and real-estate agents.

“A lot of figures have been bandied back and forth over the years about the degree of it, but I don’t think anybody has a figure on it. It is definitely escalating.”

Mortgage fraud is any act that convinces a lender to grant a mortgage that would have been rejected if the truth were known. For instance, providing a letter of employment listing an inflated salary, or a note from a relative confirming a gift toward the down payment on a purchase when the money is really a loan.

This is known as “shelter fraud.” It happens when borrowers are trying to buy a home for which they don’t qualify.

In a hot real-estate market, these frauds are rarely detected and don’t result in a loss to lenders because the mortgages are repaid.

It’s “fraud for profit” that is a growing concern for lenders — and in some cases, innocent property owners are the victims.

In these instances, unscrupulous mortgage brokers, bankers, real-estate agents, lawyers or appraisers may use false appraisals to increase the value of a property.

They are able to sell it a few times through fake documents and get a mortgage for a far higher amount than the real value of the property, leaving the ultimate purchaser to pay the bills.

Or false documents or identities may be used to mortgage homes for marijuana grow-ops or crystal meth labs.

Criminals also can use identity theft to pose as the owner of a property at the provincial land-title office. They then are able take out a mortgage on the home or sell it to an innocent purchaser and make off with the proceeds.

Earlier this month, a Surrey woman pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud after posing as the owner of a vacant lot and taking out a $170,000 mortgage on the property. The mortgage was arranged through a mortgage broker but another broker figured out the scam and alerted police.

The fraudster was ordered to repay the Royal Bank for the mortgage as well as $2,500 to cover the costs of the elderly Vancouver woman who owned the land and had to fight to clear her title. Two other suspects are still before the courts.

“The problem with mortgage fraud is you’re dealing with identity theft,” said Barry Elliott, Ontario-based creator and coordinator of Phone-busters, a national police-sponsored call centre that tracks fraud.

“You can be victimized with a mortgage on your property and not be aware of it, or have property purchased in your name and not even know about it.”

Home computers can forge documents, and transactions are done by phone or fax, giving fraudsters more opportunities, Elliott said.

And financial institutions no longer send staff to physically check the property before completing mortgage documents.

“Nobody meets people anymore — everything is done electronically,” he said. “Institutions are fighting for mortgages — there is huge competition for business.”

Estimates of the extent of mortgage fraud in Canada range from $300 million a year to $1.5 billion — although most in the industry believe the real loss is closer to the lower figure.

Richmond resident Terry Dinnell recently retired after 32 years at B.C.’s Land Titles office and has set up a business for property owners who want to monitor activity involving their land title.

“Some people are worried about their property being taken from them, and some properties are more at risk than others,” said Dinnell, who operates Land Title Options as an online business.

He said vacant land and rental properties make better targets for criminal activity. Using a provincial database, Dinnell can monitor any B.C. property for activity — from new mortgages to builders’ liens — and notify owners. The service costs $21 for three months.

“We used to get lots of people asking for things the Land Titles office couldn’t offer,” said Dinnell. “Now that I’m retired, and I know the system is available, I thought I would try to offer it.”

Title-insurance companies, which sell policies to cover legal costs and losses when land titles are fraudulently transferred, say their business is rapidly growing. It’s difficult, however, to directly link the huge increase in policies to the incidences of title fraud, experts say.

B.C.’s land-title system makes it difficult for fraudsters to change ownership of a property. But there’s nothing to stop people from impersonating the rightful owner and registering a mortgage — or trying to sell the property — for profit.

In these instances, the lender that approved the mortgage on the strength of false documents is on the hook for the loss.

“It’s a relatively easy fraud to commit, and it happens more often than you think,” said Wayne Proctor, director of the Pacific Region of First Canadian Title, which sells title insurance policies. “A lawyer can make the case for the rightful owner and have the title reinstated, but it can be a lengthy and costly process.”

Premiums for title insurance usually taken out with the lender as beneficiary average $200 to $300 as a one-time charge. However, most industry experts say title fraud is not as big a concern as mortgage fraud involving organized groups intent on ripping off lenders by flipping properties to inflate values.

Vancouver lawyer Ron Usher said people have to be careful to protect their property. He suggests checking references and credentials of mortgage brokers, protecting personal identification and monitoring credit records. “Of course people need to be careful about their most valuable asset,” Usher said.

“Take time, do some due diligence to make sure you know what you’re doing.”

© The Vancouver Province 2006

 

CONDOS: Plenty buy into Downtown Eastside revitalization

Elaine O’Connor
Province

There were a lot of “bold” people in Vancouver yesterday ready to share in the dream of Downtown Eastside revitalization — all for the price of a Woodward’s condo.

Outside the Shaw Tower sales centre on the first day of sales, a few hundred potential buyers queued for a piece of the much-marketed development. Many who camped overnight lounged in lawn chairs or tried to sleep over the din of a DJ as staff wearing jackets with the slogan “Be bold or move to suburbia” escorted groups in to sign on the dotted line.

Deep Sandhu — one of the more than 6,300 people who registered interest in the 536-unit project — had camped out since 3 a.m. for a shot at an investment condo.

“I followed the status quo, I guess,” the 24-year-old Burnaby resident said, explaining his interest. “Look at all the people here. I didn’t want to be left out of the market.”

Sandhu said he realized the risk of investing in the Downtown Eastside, but said he was prepared to live there if the market fell by the 2009 completion date or the promised renewal failed to appear.

Supporters insisted Woodward’s would turn around the hard-luck area.

“We will enliven this community,” said Warren Gill, vice-president of university relations for Simon Fraser University, a major tenant of the complex. “We will make it like it used to be.”

Marketer Bob Rennie said the project constituted “an amazing little piece of history in Vancouver.”

Prospective buyer Lorna Spencer-Hall was in line to recapture her own history. Her father used to work in Woodward’s furnishings and she fondly recalled outings to the landmark as a little girl. Now, she and her husband, John, plan to downsize from a home in Burnaby to a Woodward’s condo with a view.

“It’s quite sentimental,” she said. “I remember when Woodward’s — that was the street, that was downtown. I was really excited by the fact that it is coming back to life.”

The price of redevelopment doesn’t come cheap. The 562-to 1,155 square-foot units were listed from $249,000 to $999,000 yesterday.

By 5 p.m., 532 units had been purchased, accounting for more than $200 million in sales. Just hours after sales opened, a Craigslist website flipper was listing a 592 square-foot unit (priced at $295,000 to $359,000) for $374,000.

But well away from the sales centre at the actual Woodward’s site, renewal seemed a long time coming.

A woman in a trench coat stood in front of the boarded-up site flinging a bottle of water on the ground and spraying water from her mouth. A man pushing a shopping cart of possessions walked by, unfazed. On the wall behind them, a “W” Woodward’s promotional poster bore graffiti reading, “Class War Now.”

The reality of the location may worry some, but Gastown resident Joshua Denney, for one, knows what he’s getting into.

“It’s a big test,” said the 25-year-old first-time buyer.

“This is going to help everybody down there. These people [buyers] are going to have a taste of what real life is like down there. It’s gritty.”

© The Vancouver Province 2006

 

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Sun

All the homes in the Woodward’s towers will have a gas cooktop and electric wall oven from AEG under a microwave and hood fan from Panasonic.

The LG fridge is slightly smaller than usual and less deep, but comes with a bottom freezer.

AEG will also supply the dishwasher; Samsung, the stacking washer and dryer.

Eggersmann, a German company, will supply the cabinetry in kitchen and bathroom. Stone slab will top counters in kitchen and bathroom.

Most master suite bathrooms will be four-piece affairs, with a walk-in shower separate from the tub the fourth piece.

All bathrooms will have a flooring of 12-by-24 inch porcelain tiles.

Interior designer Michelle Counihan specified blue glass for the feature wall in the show home kitchen and green in the bathroom. The other colours from which buyers may choose are grey, red and orange.

By limiting the choice of interior features — cabinetry a what-you-see-is-what-you get example — the interior design team at Woodward’s was able to offer better-quality finishes, like European-sourced cabinetry.

“You can go bold or more minimal or spa-like,” Counihan says of the consequences of selecting one colour over another.

“By having a neutral palette [for the major items in a home] it remains a timeless design and creates a basic palette people can add colour to through art and accessories.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Bob Rennie expects to sell most Woodward’s homes in next 7 days

Sun

WOODWARD’S

Location: Hastings at Abbott, Vancouver

Presentation centre: 17th floor, Shaw Tower,

1077 West Cordova

Hours: Noon – 8 p.m., M-F; noon – 6 p.m., weekends

Telephone: 604-781-7109

Web: woodwardsdistrict.com

Project size: 536 apartments in two towers

Residence size: 592 sq. ft. – 1,155 sq. ft.,

one bedroom – two bedroom + den

Prices: Non-view, $229,000 – $460,000;

view, $449,000 – $990,000

Developer: Westbank and Peterson Group

Architect: Henriquez Partners Architects

Interior design: McfarlaneGreen Architecture + Design Inc.

Landscape architect: Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg

Warranty: National

Tentative occupancy: 2009

From the beginning, the big question facing the Woodward’s developer was — if we build it, would they come? The market is answering in the affirmative, if the more than 450 people who have stated an intention to buy and the 3,500 people, or thereabouts, who visited the presentation centre recently are a guide.

“It’s the most response anyone has had to a development,” says Bob Rennie, the 30-year real estate agent who is organizing the sale of the Woodward’s homes for the developer.

He expects he and his staff will sell 90 per cent of the homes — about 450 homes — between today — the first day he is writing agreements of purchase and sale — and next weekend.

The homes will be located in a 43-floor tower and a 32-floor tower. Tower homeowners will share their buildings with non-market residents. Offices, shops and a daycare centre will be located in the Hastings and Abbott building, the original building on the site. Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts will be located in the “Hastings Street Building.” Half of the parking will be under the residential buildings and the other half in the Woodwards parkade.

Ever since city hall awarded the development contract for the site to Westbank and Peterson Group, identification of a target market for the market apartments has been a critical component of Westbank and Peterson’s preparations.

The first plan called for the creation of affordable housing for entry-level buyers. Features would be minimal, laminate on the counters and not granite, for example, or vinyl underfoot and not hardwood.

The Downtown Eastside location of the new-home project drove that plan, the expectation that whoever might want to make their home there would not want to pay much to own a home in a notorious neighbourhood.

But there was also a strong belief the area would improve and attract those with enough cash to afford an apartment selling for more than $200,000.

“At the beginning we were naive. We believed the consumer was willing to accept the diversity [in the downtown eastside] but we didn’t know it would be an overwhelming response,” says Rennie, who is marketing the project with the saying “Be Bold or Move to Suburbia.”

But Rennie adds as enthusiasm began to grow among the consultants, architects and interior designers involved, they agreed this was a project that “could offer a better quality.”

“Everyone was so confident early on we made a complete shift,” says Rennie, of the decision to treat the Woodwards project like any other downtown condo project, similar in pricing and features.

“To buy into today’s market you need a down payment and with that you want to come to a full suite rather than just getting in because of price.”

Interior designer Michelle Counihan, of McfarlaneGreen Architecture + Design Inc., says when the firm was hired she knew her primary challenge was getting the most bang for the buck. At 31 years of age, and herself an owner of a small space of only 750 square feet, Counihan also came to the project with first-hand knowledge of what others like her would want in their condo and how to maximize space.

“I basically thought I was the demographic. My and most of my friends are just getting into the market. We still want a decent home but budget is important,” says Counihan, adding her goal was to create suites that were “young, fresh and contemporary.”

How she was able to achieve the high level of finishes was to take a different approach than the industry standard of providing three different themes per project. For instance, buyers in other projects would have a choice of three entirely different kitchen cabinets and flooring, but at Woodwards by providing one standard choice, costs could be saved that could then go into providing high-end products because they were buying quantity.

For instance, all buyers will have the same sleek kitchen cabinets from Germany by Eggersmann. They come with double-wide tilt-up cabinets, oversized metal drawers with a slow closure system. The countertops are polished stone slab which is also on the cantilevered kitchen island, that can serve as an eating area as well. All of the appliances are stainless steel – which is typical in upscale condo projects.

The kitchens also come with a stainless-steel under counter sink with built-in garburator; custom-built kitchen faucet with pullout spray in brushed chrome. The one upgrade is requesting a desk area adjacent to the kitchen. That desk area, with additional storage, has retractable doors that fold away into the wall with a chalkboard finish – ideal for keeping track of grocery lists.

Although some choices have been predetermined there are still decisions buyers can make to differentiate their suite from the guy next door. For instance, buyers can choose one of five glass wall tiles for the kitchen and bathroom. The glass wall tile colours are grey, green, blue, red or orange.

“You can go bold or more minimal or spa-like,” says Counihan. “By having a neutral palette [for the major items in the suite] it remains a timeless design and creates a basic palette people can add colour to through art and accessories.”

Another choice buyers can make is choosing one of 10 exterior door styles. This is an idea specific to the Woodwards project that saw hundreds of entries to a contest on graphic design. The 10 winning entries were selected by Counihan and a design panel.

“The different suite entrance doors create a gallery of artworks on every hallway,” says Counihan. “It’s young and different and involves the community.”

Counihan, who has worked in the past for Rennie and is now designing his office and private art gallery in Chinatown, has been working as an interior designer for 10 years in Australia, Great Britain and in Canada.

As the owner of a small downtown loft, Counihan says she knows the importance of storage so worked the interior plans to ensure there was as much as possible. In the kitchen, for instance, the cabinets reach the ceiling, in the bathroom, the large mirror opens to reveal more hidden storage, and bedroom closet space is at least seven to eight-feet wide as opposed to some condo projects with only four feet of space. The design of the 26 configuration of suites was also tweaked to ensure the vast majority have a four-piece bathroom.

Instead of enclosing the bedroom, two sliding doors have been added to make the room feel more spacious. As Counihan points out, while some projects advertise a one-bedroom and den, the den is often just a small box and questions why anyone would want to work in such an enclosed space. The sliding door solution brings this space out into the open and provides flexibility.

Other trendy design features in Woodwards are the small scale contemporary Parquet wood floors and the concrete ceilings.

“Exposing the concrete ceilings maximizes ceiling heights and go with the loft-like neutral space [being created],” says Counihan. “You see concrete ceilings in loft buildings and while this is not a 16-foot ceiling, it does go with that contemporary look. I love the rawness of the concrete.”

In the W43 building the penthouse space has been reserved for a clubhouse, giving residents of both towers access to 4,600 sq. ft. of recreational space. Plans there include an indoor/outdoor living space, gym, outdoor Jacuzzi in the shape of the letter ‘W’, library and indoor/outdoor kitchen.

Rennie says another benefit of buying into Woodward’s is the developer has worked out an agreement with the city which won’t require payment of city taxes for three years due to the heritage restoration taking place on site.

The Edwardian at Hastings and Abbott

The Woodward’s building at Hastings and Abbott had an unknown-country aura to it when it was constructed more than 100 years ago.

SOME DATES . . .

1903 – Charles Woodward opens his second store in Vancouver in a four-floor, wood-frame brick building located “on the edge of town

. . . a swamp, home to bullfrogs and skunk cabbage.”

1908 – First addition, a fifth floor.

1957 – “Last major renovation.”

1993 – Cessation of operations by the Woodward’s company closes store.

1995 – Fama development company buys building, parking garage and an empty parking lot, sells garage to city.

2001 – Province buys building, empty parking lot.

2003 – City buys those properties.

2005 – City selects Westbank as developer of the site.

2009 – Scheduled to reopen, as a retail, office and daycare space.

THE SIX-DECADE-OLD ‘W’

1923 – Tower on which the famous “W” sits erected, first occupant a revolving search light visible from Vancouver Island.

NB: The caption with the photograph at right says the tower was erected in 1923.

1944 – “W” at base of tower replaces search light.

1993 – “W” turned off.

2003 – “W” turned on.

‘$1.49 Day Tuesday’

1910 – First one-price sale-day. It was 25 cents and Charles Woodward was overstocked, having bought the inventory of another retailer at auction.

1951 – First $1.49 Day.

GETTING ‘EM DOWNTOWN

1930 – First parking garage opens, a tunnel under Cordova Street connecting garage and store.

1957 – Replacement garage opens, with bridge over Cordova connecting garage and store.

– Sources: Douglas Harker, “The City and The Store (1958); “So Much to Celebrate: Woodward’s 100th Anniversary” (1992);Cityof Vancouver website

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

Fiona Anderson
Sun

The number of owners of million-dollar homes in B.C. will continue to climb as prices for real estate show no signs of abating, two economists say. But if prices maintain their rates of increase, Vancouver could experience a “real estate bubble,” says a third.

The recent run-up in prices has been caused by a healthy economy that has increased demand. At the same time, supply has not been able to keep up, Cameron Muir, senior market analyst with Canada Housing and Mortgage Corp. said.

As long as that demand-supply imbalance continues, prices will rise, Muir said.

“We still see listing inventories on the resale side being quite low, and new-home builders are working flat out to increase the housing stock, but it hasn’t been enough to achieve a balanced market in Greater Vancouver,” Muir said.

The same is true in the rest of B.C., where there are a limited number of listings, yet builders and developers are having trouble increasing the number of units they are building due to a shortage of land in some areas, and a lack of skilled labour throughout the province, Muir said.

As a result, Muir expects housing prices to continue to rise in 2006 at the same rate they did last year, which province-wide ranged between 11 and 15 per cent. But he said the rapid pace can’t continue indefinitely.

“If we had another four years like the last four years in terms of price appreciation, the average single detached home in Greater Vancouver would be worth $1.26 million,” Muir said. “That clearly would be unsustainable, and we expect prices to level off far before we reach that level.”

Helmut Pastrick, chief economist for Credit Union Central B.C., is also calling for price increases to continue, but at a slightly more moderate pace of 10 per cent this year and seven per cent in 2007.

“I’m looking for higher prices and higher sales and, in that sense, it’s not a slowdown,” Pastrick said. “But the rate of increase in prices I expect to slow.”

But Pastrick said he predicted the same slower rate of growth for 2005 and that didn’t materialize. But he believes more supply will come online, leading to some moderation in prices.

Pastrick would not rule out a possible market bubble, especially in certain sectors of the market. Bubbles are more likely when speculative buying is high, Pastrick said. He measures this by looking at the rate of “flipping,” selling a property within six months of purchasing it.

“When you see a lot of that, that’s when the bubble talk is more appropriate,” Pastrick said.

Pastrick said there has been an increase in flipping throughout the province recently, but it is still below levels in the past.

However, the Vancouver condo market shows more signs of speculation, with 10 to 12 per cent of sales being flips. That’s the same level as during the market peak of 1989-90, but less than the 30 per cent in 1981, Pastrick said.

Derek Burleton, senior economist at TD Bank, said if prices continue to climb at the rate they have been in Vancouver, there is a danger of a bubble.

the first quarter of 2006, house prices in Vancouver were up 22 per cent over the same period last year.

“That’s absolutely spectacular,” Burleton said.

TD believes that the Vancouver market is getting ahead of its underlying fundamentals.

“We would agree that economic fundamentals are strong in Vancouver but it still doesn’t add up to such rapid acceleration in home prices particularly as affordability erodes,” Burleton said. “So in our view the market is getting ahead of itself.”

TD is not forecasting a bubble, because there is no way of telling for sure if there is a bubble until after it has burst, Burleton said.

“But it’s a very heated market that needs to slow down. To the extent that prices don’t cool off, then the risk of a housing bubble is just going to rise further,” he said.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Albertans, Americans attracted to climate and lifestyle

Fiona Anderson
Sun

Robert Mercier and Agathe Fillion jumped at the chance to buy a waterfront home for $1.2 million in Fanny Bay, south of Courtenay on Vancouver Island. In doing so, the Calgary couple followed in the footsteps of many Albertans, including Mercier’s sister, who is leaving the booming Alberta economy behind for the quiet life on Vancouver Island.

“Calgary is very booming, and we had some business there and it was very stressful and we said ‘Okay, that’s enough’,” Mercier said.

“Here I find it so relaxed, so peaceful. The noise is the natural noise of the sea. We have sea lions and fishing boats in front of our place.

“You can’t do better than that.”

Mercier said the $1.2-million price tag for the 4,300-square-foot house on three-quarters of an acre “was a deal.”

The market is very strong in the area and prices are just going to go up, he said.

The stretch of waterfront from Campbell River to Fanny Bay has been developed for 40 years, Marty Douglas, managing broker at Coast Realty Group in the Comox Valley said. But the homes have only become more attractive in the past decade, especially since WestJet started flying to Comox three years ago, he said.

Darrell Paysen, president of the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, said property values on the island have gone up significantly in the past few years, much of it pushed up by migrants to the area.

“What causes those property value increases is people finding the island,” Paysen said.

Paysen sees a lot of people from Alberta. They are living in Calgary, they are set to retire and they’ve built up a bit of money from working, from the equity in their home and maybe from an inheritance, he said. So they hop on a plane and fly to Victoria which is just two hours away.

They are attracted by the weather, and they want to be near a city, but not necessarily in one, Paysen said. So places such as Courtenay and Duncan, just north of Victoria, are popular.

“You get that happening over and over and over again and that’s what brings the prices up,” Paysen said.

Americans are also heading north, he said. If somebody decides they want to move to Canada, there is a good chance they are going to end up on the West Coast because of our climate and lifestyle, he said.

And the island is still relatively affordable, compared to other places in the world and compared to Victoria and Vancouver, he said.

“Like it or not, we are living in this global economy now. So it used to be the only people who were buying real estate around here were the local people; well that’s no longer the case.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2006