The Great Northern Land Rush

Flush with cash from selling their over heated real estate holdings in the southern reaches of the province; it seems a number of British Columbians are helping to fuel a land rush in the North. The Vancouver Sun has a report on the hot real estate markets of Northern BC, which shows that its prices that is moving the market in the north.

The region which includes almost all of the real estate north of 100 Mile House had and increase in value of sales of 33 per cent in the first nine months of 2006, jumping to 851 million dollars from a level of 639 million, based on only an increase of sales of 14%, a trend that experts suggest is being driven more by price than anything else.

Of course every region has its anomaly, and for the Northern Region that would be Prince Rupert. Which seems to be going against the trend as the following excerpt from the sun story explains:

Bucking the trend, to some extent, is Prince Rupert, where the number of sales fell in the first nine months of the year, as did the value of sales. However, prices still increased year over year to $147,000 from $116,000.

Prince Rupert is back to the same level of sales it had in 2004, said Shepard who is a realtor in the area. But with the new container terminal expected to be operating next year, bringing with it hundreds of jobs, that's going to change, he said.

"Anywhere in our board area is a good place to invest, but Prince Rupert is lagging a little bit behind everywhere else," Shepard said.

"Prince Rupert will boom."

The Rupert will boom claim, has become kind of a mantra around here of late. A promise of better days to come and there’s no reason to doubt that it may soon come to pass. At least we hope it does, as there seem to be an awful lot of eggs in that boom basket of late. But for now, we sit on the edge of the circle while the real money traders get to work cashing in on a super heated economy in most other sections of the province.

Mind you things are still trending positive, the year to year comparison finds that Prince Rupert housing has increased in pricing since 2005. Last year at September a house could be bought for $115,923, one year later an average house here was selling for $147,395.

Not the wild profit taking that seems to be sport in the south these days, but still a fairly secure return on your investment after all.

The complete story was featured on the Vancouver Sun on line service, including its read aloud project, which features selected Sun stories provided in an audio format.

Northern B.C. real estate booming
All indicators point to prices fuelling the fire
Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, October 13, 2006

Real estate across northern British Columbia continues to boom, as the hot economy pushes up prices and home sales.

The value of sales covered by the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board, which is most of the province north of 100 Mile House, was up 33 per cent in the first nine months of the year, to $851.3 million from $639.6 million. But the number of properties sold only increased 14 per cent, from 4,934 to 5,647, an indication that price increases are fuelling the fire.

The biggest jump in prices has been in 100 Mile House where the average selling price for a single family home was up 56 per cent to about $200,000 from last September's price of $128,000. But what's causing the apparent skyrocketing prices is an increase in the number of higher-end properties that have been sold, and not rising prices generally, said local realtor and board director, Jim Ivens.

A lot of waterfront homes and large homes on acreages are being sold, and those go for more than $500,000, so that pushes up the average price, Ivens said. A modest three-bedroom house has only gone up about 20 per cent over the year, from about $150,000 to $180,000, he said.
Retirees and people looking for recreational property are snapping up the high-priced homes, Ivens said.

"What's happening is with people selling in the southern part of the province and making big bucks on their houses. They come up here and it just seems like a good deal because they get twice the house for the same price," Ivens said.

Elsewhere in the region, it's the economy that is fueling the strong real estate sales, said Ted Shepard, president of the B.C. Northern Real Estate Board.

The hottest areas are probably Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, where oil and gas exploration has been pumping up local economies, Shepard said. Last September, the average price of a single family home in Fort St. John and Fort Nelson combined was $191,000. Prices in Fort St. John are now $260,000, while a house in Fort Nelson costs $227,000.

Bucking the trend, to some extent, is Prince Rupert, where the number of sales fell in the first nine months of the year, as did the value of sales. However, prices still increased year over year to $147,000 from $116,000 .

Prince Rupert is back to the same level of sales it had in 2004, said Shepard who is a realtor in the area. But with the new container terminal expected to be operating next year, bringing with it hundreds of jobs, that's going to change, he said.

"Anywhere in our board area is a good place to invest, but Prince Rupert is lagging a little bit behind everywhere else," Shepard said.

"Prince Rupert will boom."

"[And] as far as quality of life goes, the north is the place to be," Shepard said. "Because if you have a place in the Lower [Mainland] and you sold it you could move north and buy a place for less money and have money left over."

fionaanderson@png.canwest.com
- This story can be heard online after 10:30 a.m. today at www.vancouversun.com/readaloud.
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NORTHERN ALLOWANCE

The average selling price of a single-family home has increased substantially across northern British Columbia. Here are average prices from this September compared to a year ago:

Northern B.C. real estate booming
All indicators point to prices fuelling the fire

Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, October 13, 2006
Community 2005 2006 Change
100 Mile House $128,491 $200,501 +56%
Williams Lake $134,663 $175,329 +30%
Quesnel $116,090 $141,383 +22%
Prince Rupert $115,923 $147,395 +27%
Houston $84,472 $108,434 +28%
Smithers $121,437 $160,551 +32%
Burns Lake $107,714 $119,955 +11%
Vanderhoof* $102,312 $124,422 +22%
Fort St. James* $102,312 $128,000 +25%
Fort St. John** $190,755 $259,954 +36%
Fort Nelson** $190,755 $227,198 +19%
Mackenzie $98,838 $112,247 +14%
Prince George $146,832 $191,629 +31%
Terrace $126,827 $142,501 +12%
Kitimat $101,536 $123,423 +22%

* for September 2005, Vanderhoof and Fort St. James were combined; ** for September 2005, Fort St. John and Fort Nelson were combined