Looking at a chart tracking the sale of Bowen Island homes, month by month, between 2003 and the present, realtor Dee Elliot is hesitant to say that the island’s real estate market has recovered. However, Elliott does say, she has a long list of potential home-buyers looking on Bowen Island, many of whom are disappointed with the number of homes currently on the market here.
“I’ve noticed that a lot of people are coming here for trial periods living on Bowen, to see if they can handle the commute and that sort of thing,” says Elliot. “That’s a new thing for sure.”
She points to the numbers to tell the story: by the end of March, 2014, realtors on Bowen had only sold five homes. This year, they’ve made 17 homes sales through MLS.
Elliott adds that with only 44 homes currently on the market, buyers are complaining.
“People expect more availability,” she says. “We may see more come on the market in the next few months. Last year, by the end of spring there were more than 80 properties listed.”
Elliott says she also gets almost daily inquiries from people looking for places to rent on Bowen, but there is little availability, and she doesn’t have time to manage these calls anyhow.
“I am too busy dealing with buyers right now,” says Elliott.
With regards to the sellers, Elliott emphasizes that people can’t expect their home to sell for what it might have been worth in 2007, or for a price comparable homes for sale in Vancouver.
“What makes Bowen attractive is the fact that we are cheaper than Vancouver. If prices go up that’s over,” she says. “Aside from that, there is no obvious reason why homes on Bowen are selling. Interest rates are low, but they’ve been low for a long time. But there’s also the other thing I heard someone say recently: I came to Bowen because it was the only place I could afford, now I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Maybe that is the reason we see the situation we have here, now.”
The following statistics have been pulled together by Frazer Elliott, who would like to add that the numbers are constantly shifting:
- 547 - the (approximate) average length of time that houses which have sold on Bowen have been on the market
- $270,100 - the lowest price for a home on Bowen so far this year
- $2,212,500 - the highest price for a home sold on Bowen so far this year
- 10 - the number of homes on Bowen that sold this year for less than $700,000
- 2 - the number of home on Bowen that sold this year for more than $1,000,000
- $640,000 - the median selling price for a home on Bowen in 2015
