Homebuyers discover the next Okanagan
(May 13, 2008 ) With Kelowna, B.C., ranked as the least affordable city in Canada, prospective homebuyers who are looking for a home in the interior of the province are discovering the West Boundary country. According to the fourth annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey put out in January 2008, Kelowna ranked as the 13th least affordable city in the world.
.However, just an hour east of the pricey Okanagan along Highway 3, the historic town of Greenwood is experiencing unprecedented increases in real estate prices that reflect that demand, yet still keep it within reach of many.
In Greenwood, the average sale price for a house in the first four months of last year was $127,000. This year, it’s $203,000. That 60% increase in cost still places Greenwood among the most affordable regions in the province, especially compared to the average price of a house in the Okanagan at $497,000.
Jim Nathorst is betting that the public is about to re-discover Greenwood. Last year he sold his house and two restaurants in Victoria and moved to this historic town. “We had been looking all over B.C., but Greenwood had a uniqueness to it.” For less than the price of his home in Victoria, Nathorst bought two commercial lots with a successful bakery and cappuccino bar, double garage and three-bedroom apartment on the second floor. The vintage car that was part of the package—a ’55 Chevy delivery wagon—was an added bonus. In December, he bought a 100-year-old house. Next month, he will open a new restaurant in the town’s heritage hotel, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. “Our business was up 15% over last year,” says Nathorst, talking over the noise in the cappuccino bar, “and there’s times that this place is packed and you can’t move in here.”
“This is probably one of the last reasonable places to buy real estate in B.C.,” he says.
Last year, Armand Circle Lands put six serviced building lots in Greenwood on the market and all have been sold. The Rendell Highlands, consisting of nine more lots two minutes from “downtown,” are coming on the market this month, at an average price of $54,000 for a serviced, 75 by 120 foot lot. One has been spoken for already. That’s a considerable increase in population in a town of 650 people.
Nathorst is not alone in seeing Greenwood’s potential. The town’s mayor, Colleen Lang, says a lot of new people are coming into the community. “People are coming here from the Coast. It’s really a good place to raise a family.”
As new building and real estate prices continue to soar in nearby Osoyoos, Greenwood stands out as an affordable option for people trying to get into the market.
With the opening of Merit Mining’s Greenwood Gold Project, employment opportunities are increasing as well. Three high-grade gold and copper deposits near Greenwood resulted in construction of a mill and tailings facility that went into operation in March 2008.
Thanks to gold and copper mining in its heyday in the 1890s, Greenwood boasted 20 hotels and a population of 3,000. Its renaissance, thanks to B.C.’s continuing real estate boom, may be just around the corner.
For more information, contact
Armand Circle Lands
778.836.2710
