Million-dollar homes will be common
April 21, 2007
Real estate market stronger than ever (31/12/1969)
Million-dollar homes will be common By Sylvie Paillard, Reporter
Squamish might never see an end to the booming real estate market, according to market sources in Squamish’s real estate market. With the continuing development of Highway 99, developers are flocking to Squamish to meet the demands on the city of Vancouver’s newest bedroom community.
There is a strong demand from North Vancouver and with the commute to Vancouver now shorter than from the Fraser Valley, there is a lot of interest from the valley. There are currently eight $1,000,000 plus homes for sale in Squamish, and in a couple years time, it will be quite common to see $1,000,000 homes.
But the Squamish market is still attracting young urban dwellers hoping to buy moderately-priced homes in their favourite recreation destination, and the future looks bright for Squamish. Squamish believes it can sustain this growth and that it will probably become a market town of the Sea to Sky corridor, with all the stores and shopping malls experienced in the city. Pemberton and Whistler will now go to Squamish to shop, rather than having to drive the extra miles to North Vancouver.
The fact that 20-something professionals can afford a home anywhere in the Lower Mainland is “man-bites-dog” news, according to the Vancouver Sun’s recent three-page spread on the virtues of Squamish real estate. Moderately priced homes and a stabilization of the number of under $400,000 homes are on the rise. There was a substantial increase in the sale of detached and attached homes from July 2004 —when nine detached and four attached sold — to July 2005 — when 28 detached and 14 attached sold, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV).
The trend mirrors a recent REBGV report stating that the residential housing market “remains brisk” throughout Greater Vancouver, but that a higher demand than supply is not eliminating affordable housing prices.
“While prices are increasing, there are many properties priced within affordable ranges,” said REBGV president Georges Pahud.
Developments in downtown Squamish will offer townhouses and condos at under $300,000 while $300,000 ranch-style homes are currently available in Valleycliffe and Brackendale. And Garibaldi Highlands continues to see rising real estate prices.
The trend of increasing housing prices in Squamish began in 2002 and continued to rise with the low supply of listings in 2003 and 2004. The increase may have seemed extreme, but it actually brought Squamish to a normal level. Prices continue to rise due to increased international attention, high gas prices and highway construction. But the price increases are merely on par with other communities in the GVRD.
Although the REBGV still lists the Squamish benchmark price at $422,688, the board can get facts wrong because the selling of several newly developed townhouses may not make it onto their website, so this price is not completely accurate.