This article appeared on the Canadian Real Estate Magazine on December 14th, 2011.
The B.C. real estate market may finally have reached the equilibrium investors and others have long hoped for, with Multiple Listing sales in November falling only marginally from the previous year and price growth restricting itself to a 1 per cent gain.
“After waning during the first half of the year, consumer demand has steadily increased since the summer months, bringing home sales within seven units of the November 2010 level,” said Cameron Muir, chief economist for the The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA). “BC home sales continued to gain ground in November.”
A total of 5,640 units were sold last month compared to 5,647 units in November 2010. The average MLS residential price was up 1.1 per cent to $529,140 in November compared to the same month last year.
“Low mortgage interest rates remain a key driver in the housing market, helping to maintain affordability and purchasing power,” said Muir.
But affordability on B.C.’s Lower Mainland — or rather the lack of it — has worried local investors trying to make acquisitions in markets they have inreasingly found themselves shut out of this year.
That rapid value growth continues to moderate, with a falling number of buyers able or willing to purchase at prices in some cases more than 30 per cent higher than their 2010 numbers.
Year-to-date, the dollar volume for B.C. residential sales increased 15.5 per cent to $41 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales increased 3.2 per cent to 72,632 units, and the average residential price rose 11.9 per cent to $563,991 over the same period.
This article appeared on the Kamloops Daily News on December 12th, 2011 and was written by Cam Fortems.
Sun Peaks celebrates its 50th anniversary this season. This is the second in a two-part series highlighting some of the history of the development of the ski resort.
There is no bigger or better example of the power of globalization on the economy of the Thompson region than Nippon Cable Co.’s investment at Tod Mountain.
The purchase by the privately held Japanese company of a historical ski hill in B.C.’s Interior — a hill that struggled financially through a succession of owners — ignited what would become $750 million worth of development a mere 45 minutes from downtown Kamloops.
That investment, starting with Nippon’s purchase of mountain tenure and development rights in 1992, 31 years after it opened, came at a key time for the region’s economy.
Seed capital to build lifts and create a master plan would encourage hoteliers and housing developers to put money into the resort, creating million-dollar homes, jobs and result in thousands of new tourists from Europe and Asia coming here each year.
Resort spending diversified Kamloops’ economy, helping shield the city from the shock of closure of Weyerhaeuser’s Kamloops sawmill, shut down of Teck’s original Afton project and the Convergys call centre, to name a few of the biggest that would fall in the intervening years.
While investment at New Afton and Highland Valley Copper dwarfs Nippon Cable’s investment, those companies are
Canadian.
“The biggest reason (for investment) was the potential,” said Sun Peaks Corp. vice-president and general manager Darcy Alexander.
“The Coquihalla was just built in ’87 and it opened up the Interior. The population in the Interior was growing. It had good economic prospects. The attraction of Tod was its ability to serve everyone, from beginners to experts.”
At its peak, the mountain sees about 1,300 people working on the hill, including part-timers, seasonal workers and volunteers.
The mountain is dominated by the corporation, which has a statutory seat on the resort municipality’s council. Its master plan sets out the future of development in a detailed way that municipalities typically lack.
The “corporation,” as its known on the hill, remains dominant. But Christopher Nicolson, president of Tourism Sun Peaks and one of the original key staffers on the mountain, noted there are now 83 businesses registered with the association. Most of those owners are resident.
Those businesses range from construction firms to hotels, cafes and property management companies.
“It’s diversified,” Nicolson said. “There’s been a shift in the past five or 10 years. You might have had a similar number of services with construction before, but they were based elsewhere.”
Among the original small businesses now part of the 18-year-old Sun Peaks is Bolacco Café, which set up in the Coast
Sundance Lodge in 1996.
“There was nothing here,” said Konrad Glowczynski, who co-owns the lodge along with his wife, Elizabeth.
Konrad, originally from Poland, lived in Italy and Vancouver before coming to what was largely an unknown mountain in the B.C. Interior. And like many who move to a ski resort, it was about lifestyle rather than money.
“It was a struggle in 1996,” he acknowledged.
Today, winters are busy in the peak season and August is also a good month. But Glowczynski said he and other restaurateurs would like to see more business during non-peak times, particularly during week days.
“I don’t downhill anymore,” said Glowczynski, who raised three children on the mountain. “I cross-country. I came here, not for the business, but the lifestyle.”
Alexander’s goal to increase and spread out traffic is the same, something he is confident will occur in time.
Today the resort has about 7,500 beds — a remarkable growth story considering it started from just a handful of residences on Tod Mountain.
Veteran Kamloops hotelier Tim Rodgers said the resort has undoubtedly been good for the city, but not for its hotel industry.
Before there was nightly accommodation on Tod Mountain, Kamloops hotels offered packages to out-of-town skiers. Skier visits at one hotel reached about 1,200 a year.
“Now I’m lucky if I get 10 a year,” said the Best Western Plus manager.
Sun Peaks also draws tourists who would otherwise stop in the city.
“They’re definitely a competitor,” Rodgers said. “In summer they have low rates and we lose buses. (But) for the city, it’s a huge economic gain.”
One of the biggest benefits citywide is service by WestJet from Calgary and Vancouver, something Rodgers said wouldn’t be here without the skiers that Sun Peaks attracts.
The resort is part way through phase 2 of its master plan, which anticipates 24,000 beds at build out. That will be accompanied by a second village site and more lifts on the mountain.
“For the first 15 to 18 years it rolled along just as we thought,” said Alexander, who managed the resort from Day 1, after starting with Nippon Cable at a Kelowna golf resort several years earlier.
“The recent downturn has really slowed things from a timing perspective.”
Despite that slowdown and shaken faith from the United States market in real estate investments, Alexander said the resort has grown to a place where it is sustainable.
As it is, Sun Peaks can brag on several fronts, including status of Delta Sun Peaks as the only four-diamond hotel in the area, creation of a resort municipality and presence of 11 lifts accessing 1,500 hectares of terrain.
“We have one of the bigger ski resorts in B.C. and Canada in terrain,” Alexander said. “Are we at a critical mass? Yes…. We don’t need to grow to be successful at this stage.”
This article appeared on the Kamloops Daily News on December 12th, 2011 and was written by Catherine Litt.
A couple of weeks ago, Daily News reader Aileen Adams asked our Readers’ Reporter to track down the status of three empty lots on Tranquille Road.
The properties, all deep in the heart of the North Shore’s business district, have been vacant for years and Adams was curious to know if anything would ever come of them.
As it turns out, one of the properties has already begun a major transformation since Adams inquired.
It’s at the corner of Tranquille Road and Wood Street and is owned by Missagh Manshadi, a Kamloops pharmacist who also holds a smaller corner property at Tranquille and Elm.
“It’s going to be the jewel of the North Shore,” Manshadi said on Monday, as he described his plans for a mixed-use development called Carmel Place, now under construction at Tranquille and Wood.
When it’s finished in 15 months, Carmel Place will have commercial/office/retail space on the bottom and 38 units of affordable rental housing on top, managed by the non-profit Door to Roof Society.
The project is expected to cost Manshadi up to $8 million, but it’s money he’s convinced is a good investment.
“My plan was to somehow give back to the city in two ways,” said Manshadi, “by helping the North Shore community but also helping to provide reasonable apartments for rent.”
The Carmel Place development comes at a time of renewed interest in the North Shore core. Across the street from Manshadi’s project, the owners of the former Village Hotel are in the midst of transforming their building into the new Northbridge Hotel and Suites, which will market itself to visiting sports teams.
Just a few blocks north, the latest phase of the Library Square development is underway.
“We’re ready to go,” North Shore Business Improvement Area manager Peter Mutrie said of the increased activity.
“Now’s the time to buy in, because when it goes, it’s going to go fast — and in five years, you’re going to wish to hell you had bought in.”
Manshadi bought in at time when the Tranquille strip was considered a risky investment and the so-called smart money was on projects in Sahali and Aberdeen.
But Manshadi, who drives through the North Shore every day from his home in Westsyde to his pharmacy on St. Paul Street, believes the smart money should be on Tranquille’s future.
“I see the potential in the North Shore,” he said. “It’s a growing community.”
To that end, Manshadi hopes his investment through Carmel Place proves successful.
If it does, he wants to create a similar mixed-use development on his other vacant property at Tranquille and Elm.
As for the third vacant lot our reader inquired about, the future is less clear.
The property at Tranquille and Clapperton is actually two separate lots — both former gas stations. One used to be a Super Save and is for lease. The other is a former Mohawk owned by Husky Oil.
The Daily News has yet to hear back from Husky Oil as to its plans for the property.
Meanwhile, the North Shore BIA said it could be years before that side of the property sees any action.
“These oil companies own a lot of property across the country and it just sits in their real estate portfolio,” said Mutrie.
“There’s no particular big rush to move these things. They’re in the oil business and they own some real estate and pay some taxes (on the properties) and, 40 years later, they still own property.”
Vancouver, BC – December 14, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential unit sales in the province remained relatively unchanged in November compared to the same month last year. A total of 5,640 units were sold last month compared to 5,647 units in November 2010. The average MLS® residential price was up 1.1 per cent to $529,140 in November compared to the same month last year.
Click to Enlarge
“BC home sales continued to gain ground in November,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “After waning during the first half of the year, consumer demand has steadily increased since the summer months, bringing home sales within seven units of the November 2010 level.”
“Low mortgage interest rates remain a key driver in the housing market, helping to maintain affordability and purchasing power,” added Muir.
Year-to-date, BC residential sales dollar volume increased 15.5 per cent to $41 billion, compared to the same period last year. Residential unit sales increased 3.2 per cent to 72,632 units, while the average MLS® residential price rose 11.9 per cent to $563,991 over the same period.
Sun Peaks celebrates its 50th anniversary this season. This is the second in a two-part series highlighting some of the history of the development of the ski resort.