October arrives with harvest season fully in play, with shorter days, crisper nights, and star-watching as the winter constellation of Orion climbs up the sky. Special events at ArtSpring, gallery openings in Ganges, Parks and Recreation offerings at the indoor pool, and the Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend mid-month.
The real estate market is also fully in play with the Fall Market (often called the “second Spring”). People may have viewed opportunities earlier and now have decided to offer. In some cases, new listings pop up as owners who chose to enjoy another summer have now listed for Fall. It’s a buoyant time.
Market Trends and Buyer Hesitation
Low inventory continues. Although the summer season (June, July, August) was quiet in sales across Canada, prices remained stable. The BOC (Bank of Canada) interest rate cuts (three so far) have not generated a corresponding buyer action. Buyers are still hesitant.
If a buyer needs to stay under a million on Salt Spring, the choice is a townhome. A single-family home requires one to consider a purchase in the range of 1.1 to 1.45 million, and this range will most likely require upgrades or renovations. To find a ready-to-go home, one will need to consider a price range between 1.6 and 2.1 million. Waterfront options are higher. If upgrades are needed, oceanfront listings can be found in the 1.7 to 2.3 million range. A ready-to-go waterfront home will most likely fall between 2.5 and 3.8 million. Estate properties are higher.
Post-Pandemic Real Estate Landscape
The rush to leave urban for rural, following the pandemic closures in 2020, created higher prices and low inventory. 2021 was characterized by many “over ask” and unconditional offers. Despite pauses in 2022 and 2023, prices remained stable and inventory low.
Projections call for continuing price stability and low inventory as we look toward 2025 and beyond. As long as the housing shortage persists and immigration grows, the economic reality of low supply leading to high prices will continue. Government efforts to address the housing crisis have not worked so far.
Lifestyle and Ownership Opportunities
Although a Gulf Island purchase might have been recreational several years ago, it is now mainly a lifestyle choice, and people plan to live year-round where they buy. The Islands Trust form of governance (in place since 1974) also keeps inventory low. Growth has been controlled through severe zoning and bylaw restrictions.
It’s interesting that an increase in renovations since 2020 is another reason for price increases. Owners are increasing the value of their properties, whether they sell them or not.
So, here we are, at the very beginning of October. Many consider the early part of Fall one of the loveliest seasons on the great Pacific Northwest Coast. It’s a good time to visit, explore opportunities for a purchase, and discover the many elements that make up the unique Gulf Islands/Salt Spring Island lifestyle: agriculture, arts, alternative health options, respect for and enjoyment of the natural world.
Already here? Be a visitor in your own backyard. Wanting to be here? Let’s explore ownership possibilities. Consider a land purchase and investigate new manufactured home options (recent changes in construction techniques can benefit buyers). What about shared ownership? A lawyer can explain the various ways to benefit from shared ownership with family or friends. Is it for you?
Meantime, October welcomes the harvest bounty of this dynamic time of year. Enjoy!
April brings showers, sun, blossoms, warming, as authentic Spring unfolds itself around us on Salt Spring Island. “Almost summer” lushly arrives by month’s end.
Many loved annual events, cancelled for two years due to covid restrictions, are back on: sailing races, art displays, craft and artisan showcases, theatre and musical events, farmers markets, studio tours, wine tastings, live music venues, even dancing…wow.
Have we forgotten how to engage face to face? Unmasked and without a vaccine passport (this restriction apparently to be gone by April 8), will we be able to calmly transition from Zoom to real connection?
Salt Spring Island Attractions & Events
Spring’s restless energy invites discovery and that’s a reason to voyage to a nearby Gulf Island, to get to know the charms of our sister southern islands. Day trips are easy-peasy. That Galiano book store is a gem…the Japanese memorial garden on Mayne (at Dinner Bay) is not to be missed…and south Pender’s beaches are there to savour. Saturna offers a yesteryear glimpse and appreciation of magical Winter Cove. Treat those ferries like the sea voyage they are and play tourist in your own backyard.
Outdoor Dining & Parks Abound on Salt Spring Island
Speaking about backyards…when did you last play visitor on delectable Salt Spring? Time to rediscover the alluring spaces on this special island: Ruckle Park, Mt Erskine trails, wine tastings, lunch or dinner on a patio/deck at our great coffee places/restaurants, cider tastings, farm gate stands…beach combing pleasures. The natural world smiles a Spring hello and welcomes us to all these Gulf Islands.
Real Estate in April, 2022, Salt Spring Island
And what about the real estate market at this very beginning of April? We see continuing thin inventory with ever diminishing entry level options. It is the same story in all communities. The Gulf Islands are no exception. The lack of supply, with very strong demand, keep prices stable or escalating.
Residential, Salt Spring Island Real Estate
48 residential listings with 18 of them between 259,000 and 998,000.
Of these, the choices are a modular 55+ development where one does not own the land, the final phase at a townhome development, so they are not yet under construction (pre-sales), and cottage-houses, perhaps needing renovation and/or expansion into a family home
12 residential properties between 1,175,000 and 1,989,900.
7 listings between 2,100,000 and 2,800,000
4 listings between 3,750,000 and 3,995,000
1 listing at 4,595,000
3 listings between 6,300,000 and 6,950,000
1 listing at 11,975,000
2 listings at 14 million
Land
18 land listings
12 of these listings are between 259,000 and 995,000
4 listings between 1,198,000 and 1,495,000
1 listing (waterfront) is asking 2,995,000
1 (a 16 acre farm) is listed at 4,900,000
As interesting residential properties thinned out, below a million, we saw a turn to land sales. In some cases, land purchases were also a type of land banking…perhaps a desire to have real estate in one’s portfolio, to preserve capital, in these inflationary times. Buyers of land did not always plan to build. Hmmm……
At this very beginning of April, there have been 42 sales to date, ranging from 100,000 to 3,200,000.
There have been approximately
24 of them were between 100,000 and 998,000
16 sales between 1,038,000 and 1,995,000
1 sale at 2.295
1 sale at 3.2 million
It usually takes till end of June to see this number of sales. Buyers clearly remain very active.
So far, 2022 has seen those higher list prices in the very few new listings that intermittently pop onto the market. Sales are very strong in residential homes below a million. Waterfronts, however, are also again catching serious interest, regardless of price point.
Almost Summer…
So: very early April…yes, real Spring and “almost Summer” dance us through this month of an ever flowering season.
In spite of worries and unclear outcomes, with supply chain and inflationary pressures, with outbursts of wars in seemingly distant regions, in spite of diminishing buyer opportunities as real estate inventory remains extraordinarily low, in spite of struggles to keep covid outbreaks low and personal connections coming forward, in spite of changes as the digital world takes precedence and business practices must keep up with changes…in spite of shift and re-creation of how we now exist…early April sings the song of calm and ease. What does this mean for Salt Spring Island Real Estate?
Thinking of Salt Spring or a Gulf Island? The Islands Trust, a provincial government form of governance, in place since 1974, with a mandate to preserve and protect the environmental beauties of the Gulf Islands, ensures growth controls (via strict zoning/bylaws). More info? Contact me. Contained and controlled growth are important concepts in the Gulf Islands. This also means a consistent low inventory, regardless of market trend in play.
Early April. An invitation to emerge from winter’s cocoon and to allow enjoyment of the natural world to frame our longer days. We can (and should) give ourselves permission to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.
A new year. As we step into this very beginning of 2022, it’s good to remember the ancient Roman deity that gives January its name. Janus had two faces, one looking back and the other forward.
We do carry the end of the year just passed into the very early days of the new year, of course, but it’s essential to immediately face forward. The universe reminds us that there is only one direction…it’s called face forward and go for it.
Covid Restrictions still in place & Tech Solutions
The provincial and federal government restrictions to halt the covid outbreaks in 2020/2021 also forced everyone to actively be in the digital world. Zoom and its competitors were found at business meetings, churches, schools, family gatherings, banking, shopping…in all encounters…in other words, the digital experience replaced the in-person meet-up.
The outcome of the virus pandemic has been to familiarize the population with the screen reality. It’s been clunky, though. Perhaps the message of 2022 will be to create a more seamless meshing of digital and in-person realities? Techies: away you go…..
Pandemic Closures Ignites Secondary Home/Rural Regions
The pandemic closures of 2020 ignited the secondary home/rural regions real estate markets across Canada…all B.C. coastal communities experienced this flight from urban to rural. Sales in late 2020 began in the affordable price points. By early 2021, Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands began to experience bidding wars and “over ask” outcomes became the norm in that diminishing “affordable” residential category.
By March of 2021, sales of luxury residential properties began. Suddenly, that market experienced outcomes that matched pre-2008 prices.
As pleasing residential options disappeared, undeveloped land began to find buyers…starting in late spring/early summer. Is this continuing interest in land now also a form of land banking? A wish to keep pace with rising inflation?
The lack of inventory in rural areas can be attributed to the lack of owners wanting to be sellers. As things slowly but consistently sell, very little new comes onstream to replace those “solds”.
It appears that there is a major turning point/societal rewrite underway. A desire to live more simply, to be more self-sufficient, coupled with the ability to authentically work from home, all coalesced into this decision to “go rural”. Yes, there is a back to the land component.
As the pandemic continues to weave its way through the populations, globally, that seeking of an “apart” location also continues.
For some time, the buyer on Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands has been from Vancouver.
Meantime, at this very beginning of 2022, the real estate market on Salt Spring sees the following:
Residential
there are approximately …
43 residential listings.
13 of these listings are under one million.
13 of these listings are between one and two million.
8 are between two and three million.
One is between 3 and 4 million. T
wo are between 4 and 5 million.
Three are between 6 and 7 million.
One is between 11 and 12 million.
Two are listed at 14 million.
Land
there are approximately
28 land listings.
19 of these are between 200,000 and one million.
7 are between one and two million.
One is between 2 and 3 million.
One is between 4 and 5 million.
Sales
there were approximately
271 sales at the close of 2021. There were
190 sales between 190,000 and one million. (In many cases, bidding wars took placein this category.)
67 sales between one and two million.
8 sales between two and three million.
3 sales between 3 and 4 million.
3 sales between 5 and 6 million.
It seems as if numbers of sales and sale price points may have returned to 2005/2006 activity levels.
Supply and demand create markets…when driven by strong buyer desire. We remain, at this very beginning of 2022, in a strong sellers market on Salt Spring and the Southern Gulf Islands. Projections call for continuing sellers market conditions.
Meantime, it’s January…a great time to make sure one is ready for the metaverse. The “new” is profound and there is a distinct divide between pre- and post-pandemic times…important, then, to run with the flow of change. Remember Thales, another savvy Ancient Greek: one never steps in the same water twice…it’s flowing on and always new.
Meantime, to all, best wishes for a very Happy and Prosperous New Year
At this very beginning of August, the listing inventory remains extraordinarily low. Unless they have to, most owners do not want to be sellers.
Buyers continue to remain interested in leaving the city and purchasing a rural lifestyle (the outcome of those covid shut-downs).
If they have sold a house, they are looking to buy a house. That said, to keep to a budget requirement, they may consider buying an undeveloped land offering. They might put up a guest cottage, or a modular home, or barge on an older home with Nickel Brothers, and renovate it.
Concerns over inflation and potential interest rate rises are also seemingly driving a hard asset investment purchase. This type of land-banking may be seen as a way to preserve capital.
Can I Work From Home & Live on the Gulf Islands?
Although lip-service was paid in past years to the idea that anyone could work from anywhere, because of the internet, this may not have been true in outlying areas. Now it is true. Another outcome of those covid shut-downs: the turn to online options. Suddenly, everyone is happy with Zoom meetings. Businesses and non-profits turned to online opportunities. Working from home is desired and possible.
Maybe we are now positioned at the very beginning of the “real 21st Century”? It will be interesting to see what’s in place at this time next year. Voids like to be filled. Now that everyone is able to be online, in some form or other, new ways to market, to connect, to “be”, will start to fill in. An exciting time? Yes!
Meantime, at this very beginning of August, we find 50 residential listings, not separating out homes, townhouses, waterfront, view, farm. Seven of these are strata townhomes that will not be built until next year.
22 of these are listed between 420,000 and 998,000
There are 15 listings between 1,149,000 and 1,890,000
There are 8 listings between 2,125,000 and 2,995,000
One listing at 3,985,000
One listing at 4,488,000
One listing at 6,688,800
One listing at 11,975,000
Two listings at 14,000,000
There are 33 land listings, not separating out lots, acreages, view, waterfront, farm.
They are priced between 232,500 and 2,495,000.
There have been 189 “solds to date”, at this very beginning of August
135 sales were below one million
43 sales were between 1 and 2 million
Six sales were between 2 & 3 million
Two sales were between 3 and 4 million
Three sales were between 5 and 6 million
A Strong Sellers Market
It remains a strong sellers market. With the continuing low inventory in all property types & price points, there are both bidding wars in existing listings and asking price escalation in anything new to the market.
Real estate is a market, with the same dynamics as any other market driven economy. Buyers set the pace, not sellers or realtors. At this time, strong buyer desire is coupled with owners who do not want to be sellers…a recipe for continuing seller market conditions.
The Islands Trust & Inventory on Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring is a part of the Islands Trust, set in place by the provincial government in 1974. The non-growth policies of the Trust mean that there will always be limited inventory on any Gulf Island. This is beyond market trend.
So: the market speaks to buyer interest, causing diminishing inventory, on an island that has capped growth, through the Trust’s severe zoning/bylaw protections….hmmm….
More information on trends and listings? Call me! Let’s explore potential purchasing opportunities.
Thinking of selling? Discover my award-winning presentation that does encourage serious buyer interest.
Meanwhile…August. A time of fruition. Enjoy farmers markets, farm gate stands, special menus at our delicious restaurants, cider tastings, wine tastings…hiking/walking trails beckon…kayaking, paddle boarding, whale watching, sailing races…swimming in lakes and in the sea…shorter days mean earlier star watching (August brings annual meteor showers)….so much to see and to do…it’s still summer-summer. Enjoy!
Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands are practically perfect…
The Suddenly, here we are at the very beginning of July.
This is now “real summer” and it’s a short season…lots to see & to do & to enjoy on Salt Spring Island and the Gulf Islands…always good to be a visitor in one’s home area…to remember why one chose a particular island (as a sometime destination and also as a permanent address).
These Gulf Islands are very special areas.
Nothing is ever absolutely perfect, of course, but many describe Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands as practically perfect.
Salt Spring offers a year round lifestyle (a hospital, three elementary schools, a senior school, three different regular ferry routes, regular sked floatplane service, indoor pool, theatre/arts space, and so on…very easy to go places, but one doesn’t “have to”.
So, what’s happening in the real estate market on Salt Spring at this very beginning of July?
There are 48 residential listings, not separating out waterfront, view, townhome…just residential.
26 of the residential listings are between 299,000 and 998,000. (Of these, 5 are not yet built.)
There are 13 listings between 1.149,500 and 1,950,000.
There are 5 listings between 2,190,000 and 2,780,000.
There is one listing at 6,688,800.
One listing at 12,000,000
Two listings at 14,000,000.
There are 34 land listings. Again, not separating out waterfront, view, lot, acreage…just undeveloped land.
27 of the land listings are between 232,500 and 995,000.
There are 5 listings between 1,199,000 and 1,395,000.
There is a listing at 2,150,000 and another at 2,495,000.
There are 3 commercial listings (2 business only and one land/business…listed between 149,000 and 980,000).
There have been 162 “solds to date”.
There have been 116 sales between 199,000 and 979,000.
There have been 37 sales between 1,003,000 and 1,985,000.
There have been 5 sales between 2,200,000 and 2,950,000.
There was a sale at 3,150,000.
There were 3 sales between 5,380,000 and 5,850,000.
Most of these upper tier sales were residential and one was commercial.
Listing Inventory Still Low
The listing inventory remains shockingly low. Most owners do not want to be sellers, which means little new comes onstream to replace the steady sales. It is interesting that all price ranges are finding their buyer. There have been bidding wars, although lately it appears that this has settled down and many properties are selling at list price.
Government pauses to suppress covid’s spread did cause hesitations in the market, at various points. Between March 29 and June 15, all BC. residents were encouraged not to travel out of their health jurisdiction, and only essential travel was allowed. As of July 1st, intra-provincial travel will be allowed. The reopening of the U.S.-Canada border may be soon. Stay tuned.
Summer On Salt Spring Island
July is true summer. Although some events remain cancelled or are online for a second year, many lovely island venues are now open for your pleasure.
July begins an easing of many covid restrictions. Summer promises a more connected way of living. At last.
Salt Spring Summer Activities
What will you do to give yourself the gift of summer? Yes: swimming, hiking, kayaking, paddle boarding. Yes: dining on decks and patios, catching live music venues, gardening. Yes: reading a fat summer book. Yes: wine tastings, cider tastings, craft brewery tasting. Yes: starwatching. Yes: simply taking time to do absolutely nothing.
Fulford Kids love the last day of school, with its promise of two months for their summer holidays. Adults need a “time out”, too, and in this always on digital universe, perhaps we need to discover our “off button”…the adult version of “school’s out”?
Remember your Omar Khayyam: “the bird is on the wing”. Welcome July.
January is named for the Roman god Janus…he had two faces, one looking back to the past and one looking straight ahead, into the future. At this very beginning moment of 2021, it’s clear that we are looking forward into pivotal change.
Roman god Janus
The various closures in 2020, propelled by governments trying to control the covid-19 virus, unleashed a shift to the online world. Now that this acceptance of a digital environment has become the new normal, it means that new and dynamic communication formats will just be the surround sound of our time. If you are not in, you will be out.
Nothing is untouched. For techies, who have for years been able to work from anywhere, this is just how things are. For the rest of us, the learning curves may be deep or shallow…but evolve we must.
Is Rural Living the new ‘Chic’?
In times of extreme change, it’s important to be practicing our periphery vision. No leaning forward to go down prepared tunnels of information…instead, lean back and take in that 180 vista that periphery vision allows…that’s where creative change lies.
With the immediacy of data today, anyone anywhere can think about outcomes and so can create ways and means to go forward. Hmmm….in this digital universe, how might we create lifestyle scripts that allow us to successfully embrace change? There’s the challenge.
Meantime, short-term, at this beginning day of January, we note in real estate that the 2020 pandemic pushed city dwellers into seeking rural lifestyles. The ability to work from home, coupled with a desire for space, for an apart area with pleasing lifestyle options but away from city issues, created an upsurge in real estate sales in all rural communities, across Canada, and that includes Salt Spring Island and the Gulf Islands.
Revising Our Life’s Script
Salt Spring Island
We enter 2021, on Salt Spring, with a shockingly low inventory and with a strong buyer desire. In 2020, most owners did not want to be sellers…this helped to keep inventory low. As properties sold, nothing new came on to take their place. Prices stabilized.
There appears, in response to the covid pandemic, a desire for people to rewrite their life script. The allure of the rural is definitely a part of this.
The last time this lifestyle rewrite was evident was just after 9-11. In response to that former time’s sales volume increase and resulting low inventory, we saw substantial price increases in the Gulf Islands. Will we also see this as we progress through 2021? Perhaps…projections are calling for continuing interest in rural regions, continuing low inventory, continuing buyer demand.
Current Inventory Gulf Islands, 2021
At this exact moment in time, then, at the very beginning of January on Salt Spring, we have 39 residential listings, of which:
23 are listed between 299,000 and 998,500
15 are listed between 1,025,000 and 1,985,000
Five listed between 2,000,000 and 2,625,000
One listing at 3,100,000
One listing at 5,900,000
One listing at 6,688,800
One listing at 12,000,000
Two listings at 14,000,000
54 land listings
9 commercial listings
Salt Spring Island, Skywater
This inventory count might sound like a lot of choices, but as soon as one puts in the desired parameters (for example: 3 bed/2 bath, a view, good sun, good water, no huge renovations required, quiet area, close to town, budget up to 800,000), then there might be only two listings on the entire island that would meet that wish list.
Recent Real Estate Sales on Salt Spring
There were 237 sales in 2020. Prices were between 120,000 and 2,600,100. Most sales were below 998,000, but there were several sales between 1,005,000 and 1,950,000. There were 7 sales between 2,050,000 and 2,600,100.
Sales volume was up in 2020 over 2019, with most sales occurring after the first pandemic shut-down…on Salt Spring, residential sales began around June 23rd and undeveloped land sales started slowly around early November. Vancouver sellers remain the main buyer profile in all the secondary home markets.
The Islands Trust, a government body created in 1974, “to preserve and protect” the environmental beauties of the Gulf Islands, for the benefit of all B.C. residents, used severe zoning/bylaws restrictions to control growth. By doing so, the Trust ensured that property prices would (over time) escalate…a desire to own and a control of inventory are always factors on all Gulf Islands. Connect that perpetual governance model of controlled growth with a market upsurge in sales volume, and price rises may be the outcome.
With less inventory, there may be fewer sales going forward and prices may escalate. It usually takes until early March to see the tone of a year, in real estate activity. Stay tuned.
Digital Transformation
Traditionally, the coastal secondary home/recreational marketplace goes from mid-March to mid-October, but the always-on digital universe may erase this “March Break to Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend” grid of activity. New visual ways to market property may result in people buying properties without physically viewing. Stay tuned.
The work from home dynamic and the turn to online shopping, forced on everyone during the pandemic closures, make change inevitable for commercial real estate. The owners of office towers and shopping centers in major urban regions will need to consider how to respond. A repurposing of such commercial spaces will need to take place.
Locally, the Islands Trust has an opportunity to repurpose Ganges Village…to perhaps allow empty second floor offices to become rental living spaces. The Trust could also allow empty street level stores to allow live/work options. Creative thinking is required. Time, indeed, for 1974 (the year the provincial government created the Islands Trust) to meet up with 2021 requirements.
Salt Spring Island, Real Estate Office
Pandemic & Tourism on Salt Spring
Tourism has been very hard-hit all over Canada as a result of covid pandemic edicts to stay home/only essential travel encouraged. With a visitor-centric economy on the Gulf Islands/Salt Spring Island, how will this tourism aspect be successfully revitalized?
Words like resilience and recovery are meaningless without creative changes…which brings us back to the Islands Trust. As the form of governance on the Gulf Islands, are the trustees and planners on Salt Spring wearing Janus’ backward gazing face or are they seeing with his forward direction stare? We should be asking.
Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands are beautiful regions and the Trust did “preserve and protect” them for the benefit of all B.C. residents. To ensure this protective quality, going forward, the inadequacies of the Trust’s oversight do need to be addressed. Asking questions of both the Trust and the CRD is the way to ensure that the alluring lifestyle enjoyed on Salt Spring and the Gulf Islands continues.
Looking Ahead & Embracing Change
So, at the beginning of this first month of a New Year, let’s look forward…no point in turning to gaze behind us. The pre-covid time is gone. Time now to remember Alice Through The Looking Glass…she had to run very fast, just to stay still. We are at the very beginning of new ways to be. Let’s embrace change. Scary? Only until we get used to it. And your thoughts are? Always welcomed.
How may I help you to achieve your real estate goals in 2021? Whether selling or buying, benefit from my expertise, knowledge, innovative marketing ideas, and experience. Your best interests truly are my motivation. Look forward to your call.
