Has Vancouver Island Bottomed? Well, if it hasn’t it is not far away

Salt Spring Island – some Gulf Island prices are back at 2003 levels!

Five years ago, it would have been hard to find a waterfront house on the largest Gulf Island for less than $800,000.

This summer the typical price for a three-bedroom oceanfront house is $559,000.

Vancouver Island. Prices at Ucluelet and Tofino on the western coast reflect perhaps the biggest price drops on the Island since the days when Jack Nicklaus and European investors tried to launch an expensive and elite golf resort. (That 360-acre resort property, Wynandsea, was listed for sale after its collapse in 2008 for $35 million. Sotheby’s now has it listed for less than $10 million.)

Average price of a 3-bedroom waterfront house in Ucluelet is now $549,000. Non-waterfront 1-bdrm condos are selling for $150,000. It is tough to get financing in the area, however. All sales must be accompanied by an appraisal and properties with on-site rental programs (i.e., fractionals and hotel-condos) are very difficult to finance. In the Comox Valley, waterfront prices are 50% below the 2008-2009 peak. Examples include a 3 bedroom oceanfront home on 1.77 acres for $559,000.

Average house prices in the Comox Valley this May, at $340,000, are the same as in 2011.

Ozzie’s interview with Mike where they discuss, amongst other things, the drop in ocean front real estate prices and some huge real estate price reductions in general that have surfaced.  The interview begins at the 24:17 mark:

{mp3}mtjuly6hour1{/mp3}