REAL ESTATE IN WHISTLER STILL A GOOD BET!
Few Canadian destinations garner the international acclaim, exposure and world-wide attention as the municipality of 9824 residents an hour north of Vancouver. Regarded as one of the best ski destinations in North America and one of the top overall resorts in the world, Whistler has come a long way from its humble roots as a fishing lodge back in the early 1900s, and today it has emerged as a year-round resort destination that attracts more than two million visitors annually from across the globe.
Designated the first resort municipality in Canada in 1975, it wasn't until 1980 when Whistler Village, Blackcomb Mountain and the north face of Whistler Mountain first opened that the world started
to take notice. Nine years later it was ranked among the top destinations in the world, paving the way for a real estate boom that started to gain momentum in the late 1990s.
Whistler's housing market took on a life of its own in the early 2000's thanks to a soaring US dollar that peaked in 2002 when the area became known as a destination of choice for American and non-resident purchasers. Prices doubled virtually overnight and armed with a dollar that was worth more than $1.50 Cdn, US buyers were leading the charge. The gradual decline of the greenback over the next five years meant fewer purchasers coming north and the market slumped in 2007 before peaking again in 2008 thanks to Vancouver's red-hot housing market.
Since then Whistler's real estate market has definitely cooled off and although values have come down from their peak, the number of transactions in 2012 is on pace to exceed 2011, which in turn was higher than 2010 suggesting things are pointed in the right direction.
Through good times and bad, pre and post Olympics, and soaring and slumping currencies, local purchasers of Whistler property (consisting primarily of buyers from the Lower Mainland) have
been a stabilizing and reassuring force on the local housing scene. With less than a quarter of buyers now coming from outside the Lower Mainland including only about 8% from the US, sellers have
turned their attention to a buyer much closer to home. Purchasers from the Lower Mainland are buying for personal use, lifestyle and a 10 to 20 year phase of ownership, comments Ron Mitchell, Managing Broker at Sutton Group West Coast Realty in Whistler. They've been watching the market closely for a long time waiting to see what would happen after the Olympics and they understand that Whistler offers very good value as far as mountain resorts go for a number of reasons. First, all the infrastructure
from restaurants to golf courses to other local facilities are already in place. The area is fully developed from the moment you buy. Second, it's become a year-round destination and not just a place to go for a ski weekend at Christmas. And third, with the new highway it's easily accessible and convenient to get to.
And just what does all of this mean for buyers and sellers? Part of the challenge with predicting real estate trends is you can get caught up in the past, Mitchell explains. Someone trying to sell a property today may have to reset their expectations and not think about what that property may have been worth a few years ago. As for buyers, if someone has the financial capabilities to buy a lifestyle property, there's very good value right now and the opportunity to provide a great ROL - Return On Lifestyle.
In a market like Whistler, isn't that ultimately what it is all about?
