Is Powell River becoming a refuge for residents of Greater Vancouver?
David Repa, who moved from Vancouver last year, sits for a photograph at his home in Powell River, B.C., on Thursday March 16, 2017. Repa recalls the shock he felt sitting down at a bank after selling his Vancouver business in 2013 and realizing for the first time how much of “a joke” his prospects were of owning a home in the city. “Oh, my God. I’m not even close,” Repa remembers thinking at the time. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A recent article in The Province states that:
As soaring real estate prices expand up B.C.’s south coast, Powell River has become a refuge for residents of Greater Vancouver who want to make home ownership a reality. The community of about 13,000, located two ferry rides from the Lower Mainland, is also attracting people interested in living somewhere that will allow them to afford the lifestyle they want to lead.
Neil Frost, president of the region’s real estate board, states that “Non-residents have made up about 50 per cent of the buyers in Powell River over the past couple years.”
Figures from the B.C. Real Estate Association show Powell River led the province in January for both the number and total value of residential sales, compared with the same period last year. Residential sales jumped 82 per cent to $6.3 million.
A few locals that have moved from places like Vancouver and Squamish have been quoted in the article, like David Repa, above. Read the full article in The Province here.
