Close X
Sunday, January 12, 2025
ADVT 
National

'Thanking Our Lucky Stars:' Canadian Resort Real Estate Loves High U.S. Dollar

The Canadian Press, 20 Jan, 2016 11:57 AM
    Realtors who sell Canadian resort properties say the low loonie is spurring interest from American buyers who are looking to pick up cheap vacation homes north of the border.
     
    "We're thanking our lucky stars," said Brad Hawker from Royal LePage Rocky Mountain Realty in Canmore, Alta.
     
    While the housing market in Calgary — 130 kilometres to the east —is suffering due to plummeting oil prices, that hasn't been the case in Canmore with a 70-cent Canadian dollar.
     
    In the mountain town just minutes from Banff, an 1,100-square-foot condo boasting two bedrooms, two baths and beautiful views is listed at $429,000. But when you factor in the exchange, that's only about US$296,000.
     
    Hawker said he's fielded a number of inquiries from both the United States and the United Kingdom. He's also seen interest from Asia and Europe.
     
    "I don't think it's going to be a huge flood of people immediately but it's started," he said.
     
    "It takes a while. People don't just arrive and come for a holiday and then buy something if they've never been here before. Usually they have to come back a second time, and that's something I expect we'll see over the next six to 18 months."
     
    Hawker said tourism is booming in the area.
     
    "Business has not been this good for 25 years. It's incredible."
     
     
    Prices and demand remain high in the ski-resort town of Whistler, B.C.
     
    One property — a 3,400-square-foot luxury home with five bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths, cherry floors and custom totem poles — is listed for more than $4.2 million. That's about US$2.9 million.
     
    Christopher Wetaski, who is with ReMax Sea to Sky Real Estate in Whistler, says he is also seeing an increase in American clients and expects he'll see more as people begin to realize the power of the U.S. dollar.
     
    "It just takes a little while for them to realize what the value is. When they show up in Whistler and start spending money and realize it's a deal — if they happen to be in the market — they kind of clue in."
     
    With the dollar close to par in the recent past, the number of Americans buying property in Whistler had been on the decline over the last five or six years — dropping to five per cent of all sales from a peak of 20 per cent.
     
    Wetaski said the strength of the U.S. dollar is likely to push prices up and flush out more inventory.
     
    And not all of the extra business will be from south of the border.
     
    "Some of our buyers are also from Hong Kong," said Wetaski, who added they'll be coming to Canada next month.
     
     
    "You get Americans, Canadians, British, French, all living in Hong Kong making American dollars, and they like to come to Whistler during Chinese New Year. They'll probably be looking at real estate as well so that should be a good year for that."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Osoyoos, B.C. Woman Acquitted Of Assaulting RCMP Officer

    Osoyoos, B.C. Woman Acquitted Of Assaulting RCMP Officer
    The trial heard that Fiona Galt Munro, 34, was pulled over after driving away from a pub in Osoyoos, B.C., around 2 a.m. on Sept. 28, 2013.

    Osoyoos, B.C. Woman Acquitted Of Assaulting RCMP Officer

    2015 The Year Streaming 'Went Mainstream,' Viewers Hope For More Options In '16

    2015 The Year Streaming 'Went Mainstream,' Viewers Hope For More Options In '16
    TORONTO — Whenever Anushie Mahavitane gets a chance to watch TV, the busy working mom has a choice to make: Will it be live, on-demand or streamed?

    2015 The Year Streaming 'Went Mainstream,' Viewers Hope For More Options In '16

    Pressure-Cooker Emergency Crises Get High-Tech Solution From Vancouver Startup

    Pressure-Cooker Emergency Crises Get High-Tech Solution From Vancouver Startup
    The CommandWear Systems' platform has been piloted and used by several police and paramedics agencies across Canada since the company was launched in June 2013.

    Pressure-Cooker Emergency Crises Get High-Tech Solution From Vancouver Startup

    California Mother Takes Fight To Federal Court To Have Brain-Dead Daughter Declared Alive

    California Mother Takes Fight To Federal Court To Have Brain-Dead Daughter Declared Alive
    Lawyers for the mother of 13-year-old Jahi McMath filed a lawsuit in San Francisco federal court asking that the girl be declared alive after state courts have refused to rescind the teen's death certificate.

    California Mother Takes Fight To Federal Court To Have Brain-Dead Daughter Declared Alive

    Fentanyl Blamed In One Death And Two Overdoses In Owen Sound, Ontario

    OWEN SOUND, Ont. — Police say fentanyl is the cause of three recent overdoses in Owen Sound, Ont., that caused the death of one person and the hospitalization of two others.

    Fentanyl Blamed In One Death And Two Overdoses In Owen Sound, Ontario

    Red Cross To Take Over Meals On Wheels Program In Eastern Newfoundland

    Red Cross To Take Over Meals On Wheels Program In Eastern Newfoundland
    Meals on wheels was offered by the Victorian Order of Nurses and was supposed to end permanently in St. John's on Wednesday.

    Red Cross To Take Over Meals On Wheels Program In Eastern Newfoundland