Prices for vacation homes at Big White exploded this year despite a slowdown in sales, according to the Royal LePage Winter Recreational Property Report released Tuesday.
The Royal LePage report indicates that the median price of a single-family detached home in Big White’s recreational property market for the first 10 months of the year increased 45.5 per cent year-over-year to $1,600,000, while the median price of a condominium increased 11.1 per cent to $500,000.
A house or condominium slope-side or at mountain base prices typically starts at $900,000 and $400,000, respectively.
That price jump for single-family detached home is the biggest in the province. In contrast, Sun Peaks saw a 13-per cent increase, Revelstoke saw a 13.3-per cent increase and Whistler saw a 14.9-per cent increase.
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Royal LePage expects the upward price trajectory will continue into 2023 and estimates a rise by another seven per cent.
Despite the rising cost of a resort area home, total sales were down 33 per cent year-over-year in the region,
“Transactions at the upper end of the market are largely responsible for the dramatic price increases in the single-family segment, as Big White continues to attract luxury recreational property buyers,” Andrew Braff, sales representative, Royal LePage Kelowna said in a press release.
“However, demand has slowed over the last year as buyers adjust to the rising interest rate environment and sellers feel less urgency to list their properties.
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“As activity moderates, we are seeing fewer multiple-offer scenarios compared to last year.”
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Braff noted that luxury property owners are less impacted by changes in the market, and are more likely to keep their properties in the family long term, for several generations to enjoy.
In addition to local buyers, the world-renowned ski region attracts demand from across the border and around the globe. However, pandemic travel restrictions over the last two years have forced some international homeowners to visit their recreational properties less frequently.
Thirty-two per cent of U.S. citizens living in border states who currently own a recreational property in Canada have purchased a home in British Columbia. Of those who plan to purchase recreational property in Canada, 33 per cent say they intend to purchase in the province.
Big White is not the only resort seeing this kind of real estate increase.
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Canada-wide popular ski regions have posted double-digit year-over-year home price appreciation since the beginning of 2022, despite rising interest rates and price declines in the residential market. Nationally, in the first 10 months of the year, the median price of a single-family detached home increased 15.1 per cent year-over-year to $1,042,700.
All recreational regions surveyed recorded double-digit declines in the number of homes sold during the first 10 months of 2022, compared to the same period last year, when demand for properties reached historical highs.
Royal LePage recreational property market experts across the country report more balanced conditions and an increase in inventory, compared to 2021.