The Columbia Valley Pioneer • August 3, 2007
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Columbia Valley
New Homes • Developments • Resale Homes • Multi-Family • Interior Design
Local market cooling off By Brian Geis Pioneer Staff The weather is hot, but Columbia Valley realtors are saying the local real estate market, lately one of the hottest in Canada, is beginning to cool. Invermere Re/Max owner Wende Brash said, despite availability, not a single lakefront property has sold since Re/Max released a report calling the East Kooyenays the most expensive recreational property in Canada. According to the report, which made headlines across Canada, the starting price for a three-bedroom, winterized recreational property on a standard 50-foot waterfront lot on Lake Windermere is $2.5 million. “We haven’t had a sale of a lakefront property all year,” Ms. Brash commented. “So, it probably didn’t do us any good, as usual.” The Re/Max report blames a shortage of recreational properties in the popular $400,000 to $800,000 price range for a 36.5-percent decrease in sales activity in the first quarter of 2007, compared to the same period last year. However, the realtors on the ground say there is more property on the market now than ever before. Don Slobodzian of Royal LePage Rockies West Realty said he is looking to September as the indicator. “People are doing the summer vacation thing. Once the kids are back in school, we’ll be able to tell if it was just a summer slowdown or a real downturn in the market. If it is a levelling off, we will know that in September.” According to Mr. Slobodzian, some price reductions are beginning to crop up in the market. “I’m not looking at a pile of data here. This is more of a gut feeling,” he said. “We’re still seeing a lot of listings, but the buyers have certainly backed off. I can’t really say for sure we’re in a slow down period, but it is certainly a softening.” Continued on Page 2
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