06-29-2013, 10:31 AM
I said in my May sales update post that single detached million dollar properties on the Sunshine Coast weren’t moving. The REBGV ‘sales by type and price’ table indicated there had been one sale in May and for the year-to-date the total was 4.
I decided a few days back to look at that REBGV table for all of last year and see how 2012 faired in comparison and perhaps get an overall picture of the market direction now facing those trying to sell their million dollar plus properties. Here is the result…
Well, isn’t this bleak. As you can see from Jan-May 2012, 8 properties at $1 mill+ sold and we’re at only half that number for the same period this year. You can see that in June last year there were 5 sales and I doubt very much sales this month will get beyond 2 (there was one property on Keats Island that sold for $1,025,000 that was listed at $1,149,000). The total for 2012 was 20 - “Wow!” (To quote the BC Oracle).
Of course, if there are only a couple dozen of these properties listed then these figures above might look pretty good; however, we know better than that, don’t we. As of today, June 29th, there are 92 Sunshine Coast million dollar plus properties currently on the market. If any of those 92 is desperate to sell, then they have to feel sick looking at what is happening with sales this year let alone at the awe inspiring total for last year.
Where are these million dollar plus babies located? Let's take a look at the composite map image below...
Well, look at that - all but a very few are following the coast line. Yes, we are talking waterfront - waterfront on islands, waterfront on lakes, waterfront on inlets, waterfront on the ocean, all waterfront from Gibsons to Egmont Point.
Now, let’s go back in time to 2004. That was the year the BC Oracle, Ozzie Jurock, who no doubt studied the entrails of fish and fowl, made a grand pronouncement: “Buy Waterfront!!!” He said it was the best investment you could make because they weren’t making it anymore. He said buy it no matter where it is: ocean, lakes, and rivers. And, what about creeks would they have been included in his advice to eager followers?
Rivers and creeks, eh? I guess the entrails glossed over one small problem that the denizens of Alberta discovered last weekend. This is that the low lying area along a river and a creek is called a 'floodplain' and for a very good reason because every now and then - it floods. Yes, that innocuous little creek in Canmore lived up to its name - Cougar - a silent and deadly killer. That raging creek not only washed away the soil under the homes along its banks but also the hopes and dreams of those living in those homes since no home insurance in Canada covers such an ‘act of god.’ Imagine having to pay the mortgage on a house that is no longer inhabitable.
However, as sad as it is that is there, we are here and ocean waterfront properties likely won’t have to worry about rising ocean levels - yet. And, except for those few poor sods who bought into Seawatch at the Shores and have to contend with springs popping up here and there, every other waterfront property owner on the coast knows that their borrowed money has been invested wisely. After all, they don’t make waterfront property any more; everyone wants to own waterfront property; and, therefore, waterfront land will never lose its value - so said The Oracle.
To hear The Oracle speak (courtesy the RE Temple’s high priests and priestesses at then BCTV (now Global BC): view the video ‘Recreational Real Estate’ for Thursday, June 23, 2005 (you will need to install RealPlayer).
To read The Oracle’s own words: I suggest the February, 2005, article in Vancouver Lifestyles: “Duck Hunting and the Economic Boom - Ozzie Jurock’s Outlook for 2005”.
Fast forward to May 27, 2013 and Global BC offers the latest on ‘Recreational Real Estate’ in BC - new ‘expert’, same message - buy waterfront on the Sunshine Coast. Now, if only those retirees living in West Van could find buyers for their multi-million dollar properties and cash out all that pent up equity what a wonderful world it would be.
I decided a few days back to look at that REBGV table for all of last year and see how 2012 faired in comparison and perhaps get an overall picture of the market direction now facing those trying to sell their million dollar plus properties. Here is the result…
Well, isn’t this bleak. As you can see from Jan-May 2012, 8 properties at $1 mill+ sold and we’re at only half that number for the same period this year. You can see that in June last year there were 5 sales and I doubt very much sales this month will get beyond 2 (there was one property on Keats Island that sold for $1,025,000 that was listed at $1,149,000). The total for 2012 was 20 - “Wow!” (To quote the BC Oracle).
Of course, if there are only a couple dozen of these properties listed then these figures above might look pretty good; however, we know better than that, don’t we. As of today, June 29th, there are 92 Sunshine Coast million dollar plus properties currently on the market. If any of those 92 is desperate to sell, then they have to feel sick looking at what is happening with sales this year let alone at the awe inspiring total for last year.
Where are these million dollar plus babies located? Let's take a look at the composite map image below...
Well, look at that - all but a very few are following the coast line. Yes, we are talking waterfront - waterfront on islands, waterfront on lakes, waterfront on inlets, waterfront on the ocean, all waterfront from Gibsons to Egmont Point.
Now, let’s go back in time to 2004. That was the year the BC Oracle, Ozzie Jurock, who no doubt studied the entrails of fish and fowl, made a grand pronouncement: “Buy Waterfront!!!” He said it was the best investment you could make because they weren’t making it anymore. He said buy it no matter where it is: ocean, lakes, and rivers. And, what about creeks would they have been included in his advice to eager followers?
Rivers and creeks, eh? I guess the entrails glossed over one small problem that the denizens of Alberta discovered last weekend. This is that the low lying area along a river and a creek is called a 'floodplain' and for a very good reason because every now and then - it floods. Yes, that innocuous little creek in Canmore lived up to its name - Cougar - a silent and deadly killer. That raging creek not only washed away the soil under the homes along its banks but also the hopes and dreams of those living in those homes since no home insurance in Canada covers such an ‘act of god.’ Imagine having to pay the mortgage on a house that is no longer inhabitable.
However, as sad as it is that is there, we are here and ocean waterfront properties likely won’t have to worry about rising ocean levels - yet. And, except for those few poor sods who bought into Seawatch at the Shores and have to contend with springs popping up here and there, every other waterfront property owner on the coast knows that their borrowed money has been invested wisely. After all, they don’t make waterfront property any more; everyone wants to own waterfront property; and, therefore, waterfront land will never lose its value - so said The Oracle.
******************************
To hear The Oracle speak (courtesy the RE Temple’s high priests and priestesses at then BCTV (now Global BC): view the video ‘Recreational Real Estate’ for Thursday, June 23, 2005 (you will need to install RealPlayer).
To read The Oracle’s own words: I suggest the February, 2005, article in Vancouver Lifestyles: “Duck Hunting and the Economic Boom - Ozzie Jurock’s Outlook for 2005”.
Quack! Quack!
******************************
Fast forward to May 27, 2013 and Global BC offers the latest on ‘Recreational Real Estate’ in BC - new ‘expert’, same message - buy waterfront on the Sunshine Coast. Now, if only those retirees living in West Van could find buyers for their multi-million dollar properties and cash out all that pent up equity what a wonderful world it would be.
The merry-go-round goes 'round and 'round,
The children laughed and laughed and laughed,
So many were going 'round and 'round,
That the merry-go-round collapsed.
(sung to the tune of ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’)