The BC budget was released today and with that information regarding a First Time New Home Buyer’s Bonus. It outlines a temporary income tax credit for first time home buyers when they purchase a NEW home. I can imagine that the condo developers downtown are ecstatic but what does that mean on Bowen Island.

BC First-Time New Home Buyers’ Bonus

The new BC First-Time New Home Buyers’ Bonus will be a temporary one-time refundable income tax credit for first-time home buyers who purchase a newly constructed home. The credit will be calculated as five per cent of the purchase price of the home up to a maximum credit of $10,000.

The credit will be phased out at a rate of 20 per cent of net income in excess of $150,000 for single individuals and at a rate of 10 per cent of family net income in excess of $150,000 for couples. Only one credit can be claimed per home.

The credit will be available on purchases of newly constructed housing where both the HST applies and where a written agreement of purchase and sale is entered into on or after Feb. 21, 2012.

Homes eligable for this tax credit on Bowen Island:   

1332 Eagle Cliff $545.000 + HST

Exceptional value for this brand new 4 bedroom; 2.5 bathroom home on a level 1/4 acre lot with some mountain view. Easy access and a very usable property. Comes with New Home Warranty. Listing compliments of Angell Hasman & Assoc. Realty Ltd

This house would also be eligible for a HST rebate.

323 Elronds CT $694,000 + HST

New craftsman-style home. Sunny, southeast-facing view lot in Cates Hill Village. 1,772 SqFt home on 0.37 Acre. Charming family home with 3 bedrooms + den, 2.5 baths, open kitchen/dining/living layout, family room, laundry room, 1-car carport. Quality built. New Home Warranty. Walking distance to Snug Cove, ferry, schools, shops, parks, trails & beaches. List price does not include HST. HST New House Rebate available to eligible buyer. Listing Realtor/managing broker are part owner of the property & will not offer an agency relationship to buyer. Buyer is required to sign Disclosure of Interest in Trade prior to making offer and must acknowledge that there is no agency relationship with listing Realtor/managing broker. Listing courtesy of Bowen Island Realty Ltd. Also eligible for HST rebate.

911 Elrond’s CT $1,295,000 + HST

Nicely located on a quiet cul-de-sac in an area of superior homes, this custom-designed and well-built home features a spectacular close-in view of Howe Sound and the local mountains. In the style of early 20th century American architecture, the home is built with high quality materials and techniques throughout. It also contains a fully legal suite that could be used to advantage or as extra family living space. This beautiful quality home is a must-see.  Listing courtesy of Prudential Sussex Realty.

1660 Evergreen Ln $ 1,6 

Brand New High Performance Home. Builtgreen Gold. Energuide 80 Rating. One of only 8 homes to sit on the ridge to watch the sunset. New subdivision embedded in protected parkland with access to mountain trails and local swimming beach.Click on View Multimedia for more info. Listing courtesy of oneflatfee.ca

Initial results on Population Growth from Statistics Canada 2011 Census indicates that Bowen Island has had a modest growth of 1.2 % since 2006.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 Census of Population

According to the numbers there are only 40 new residents since 2006- pretty amazing considering recent development on Bowen Island. Since 2006 developers have added roughly 154 single family lots . If one was to estimate that roughly 70% have sold and perhaps 50% of those have been developed we should still have 50 new households on the island. This doesn’t take into account any of the smaller subdivision plans or previous bare lots that have been developed:

What accounts for this modest growth: perhaps Bowen Islander’s may not be inclined to be counted, changing demographics, suites that are unaccounted for, fewer full time residents?

How does Bowen Island compare to our surrounding communities:

• West Vancouver 1.5%
• North Vancouver 2.2%
• Lions Bay -.8%
• Gibsons 6.1%
• Squamish 14.8%
• Saltspring Island 6.2%

Stay tuned for upcoming releases from Stats Canada that will focus on population by age and sex (May 29, 2012), families, households, marital status, structural type of dwelling and collectives (September 19, 2012) and language (October 24, 2012).

January 23, 2011

While Greater Vancouver experienced a relatively balanced market in 2011, Bowen Island continued to favour a buyers-market with 141 properties listed in 2011 vs. 125 listed in 2010. On a brighter note, sales were up 25% in 2011 over 2010 with 45 (3.3 listing to buyer ratio) vs. 36 sales respectively (3.4 listing to buyer ratio); but down 30% from the 8 year average of 58 sales (2.12 listing to buyer ratio).

Bowen Island Market Report 

Overall the market on Bowen Island is slightly behind 2010 in home sales with 23 homes sold in 2011 vrs 25 YTD in 2011. Land Sales are up from last year with 6 sales in 2011 vrs 4 sales YTD in 2011. Homes are taking an average of 118 days to sell and are selling with 95% of asking price and 1.08 % of assessed value. Land is taking an average 66 days to sell and are selling at an average of 93% of asking price, and 92% of assessed value.

Inventory levels continue to climb as new listings exceed sales. In July we had 12 new listings and only 2 sales with inventory levels climbing to 93 homes on the market similar to last summer. Currently we have a .5 year supply of homes in the 400-700K range and 3.44 year supply of homes in the over 1million range. Lot listings also continue to out pace sales with 4 new lots on the market and 1 sale in the month of July with inventory peaking at 43 lots.

The average sale price of homes is $763,000 YTD, down 6% from last year if one includes the record 5.2 million dollar home sale in 2010 in the average.

In short the market continues to favour buyers as inventory levels rise.

While this information is interesting it is important to note that statistically Bowen Island has too small a sample for accurate statistical analysis. Discretion should be taken in interpreting the data.

Bowen Island Market Report Aug 2011

It took me 8 hours to get home from the Cabin yesterday. 1 hour by boat 1 hour of driving and 6 hours of ferry waits. We live on Bowen Island but we are building a summer cabin on Hardy Island. One might ask why one would need a 2nd island property and after yesterday I wonder the same thing. The truth is I live and work on Bowen Island so every so often it is nice to get away from computers and the constant reminders of work (in the form of For Sale signs the line the roads of Bowen Island). The other truth is that in a month - in the height of the summer- we have devised a way to bypass the Langdale ferry by leaving a car on the sunshine coast and taking a water taxi from the back side of Bowen Island to Gibsons. Complicated yes- but it takes 6 hours less and all the agrivation off the commute. The final truth is that on Hardy Island I can afford 15 acres of waterfront - something that would cost me roughly 8 times more on Bowen Island.

 The other realization I had while waiting 4 hours for the Langdale ferry is what an easy commute Bowen Island is. I’m off island once or twice a week and yes occasionally I miss a ferry or come across an oversold ferry and a quietly curse to myself. It forces me to slow down, read the paper, take a trip over to Starbucks for an hour tops. I have never had to wait 4 hours for the ferry. Occasionally I might get aggravated about having rush for a boat but on the whole I am thankful every day that I get to live in a wonderful community surrounded by nature and without stoplights. The trade-off is easy in my mind.

This brings me to the point I really want to make which is- where can one find a cabin by the sea without the commuting by BC Ferries?

I suppose one could always opt for a boat. I was raised with the boat being my summer cottage. Every weekend we would drive downtown and take the boat out on Lake Ontario and in the summer we would spend a month cruising down to the Thousand Islands. Boats make great cottages but as we all know they make lousy investments. I’d love to hear from people who have made money in boat ownership. If this is the route you want to go- I have just the boat for you http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/boa/2370065185.html

The second option would be to find a cabin in the Howe Sound area. For as little as $99,000 you can buy a lot on Gambier Island and start building your Gulf Island Get-a-way. You can take a scheduled water taxi to walk on BC Ferries and be there in an hour or less from Horseshoe Bay. Waterfront lots can be found for as little as $259,000 on Passage Island- only 5 mins by water taxi from Eagle Harbour in West Vancouver or 20 minutes from Granville Island by water taxi. Are you not ready to build it from scratch? You can buy a turn-key waterfront/water access cabin with dock on Bowen Island for $490,000 or a beachfront property on Keats Island for $499,000- just 40 minutes by scheduled water taxi from Horseshoe Bay. For more information on these or any other listings feel free to visit my website at www.bccoastalliving.com

Most of us are resigned to BC Ferries and their preference for parking cars rather than moving them as the price we pay to escape to the wonderful coast. My point is simply that there are options and sometimes you just need to think outside the box.

When the skies opened up and let a little sunshine in on Sunday- my fabulous photographer (Deb Stringfellow) and I took the opportunity to re-shoot a couple of great homes. Look how it sparkles. 895 Windjammer, Bowen Island. $639,000.

Our Realtor tour today took us to this treasure. The custom coach house is complete with plans for a post and beam home. Outdoor living room with rock fireplace is nestled against the cliff with a stunning view over Keats Island and the Sunshine Coast AND the possibility of subdividing off a waterfront lot. Worth exploring!

Listing provided by :Macdonald Realty Ltd.

In an effort to start a dialog regarding the advantages of Rain Harvesting on an Island we are offering our clients a FREE leaf eater leaf catchment system and a FREE consultation with McTaggart Water Systems. See our Flyer.