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2015 Bowen Island/Gulf Islands Sales Stats
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04-21-2015, 07:35 AM,
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RE: 2015 Bowen Island/Gulf Islands Sales Stats
I live on Bowen and have been following the market closely for the past few years, looking for the right time to put my money down on a cut rate property. This spring, there were a burst of quick sales which surprised everyone. I spoke to Dee Elliot about this recently, and she said she honestly doesn't know whether it's part of a trend, or just random. There is so little volume on Bowen that you can't easily draw conclusions.
If Bowen's market is picking up, there are a few reasons I can think of: 1. Sellers are getting more realistic about pricing. Some of the recent quick sales were - in Dee's opinion - fairly valued. This contrasts with many other listings, which are over-priced and languish on the market for years. 2. Vancouver's market is ultra hot, which may be sending folks looking at the exurbs. Bowen is very cheap compared with West Vancouver. 3. The rental market on Bowen must have about 0.1% vacancy right now. There are at least half a dozen families searching for the same type of home, and absolutely nothing is coming up. I know some of those families are now buying out of desperation. All this being said, anyone considering buying on Bowen should know that it has some severe long term problems, among them: 1. BC Ferries continues to increase prices much faster than inflation, and reduce service levels. This increases the cost of living and reduces the island's attractiveness to many families. 2. Island politics swing wildly from developer-friendly to green. The last council was a bunch of developers who rammed through various things. The current council is greener than Gregor. New development has effectively stopped. This will no doubt have an effect on prices (upwards) for the next three years by constraining new supply; however, at the same time you never know what council will be coming in 2017 and it may be quite expansionist again. |
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