Retirement-home buyers going south

British Columbians are fleeing the high cost of recreational real estate by buying just across the U.S. border, a realtor in Birch Bay, Wash., says.

They are people like Burnaby's Duke and Carolyn Carpenter who bought a two-bedroom retirement home on a quarter-acre lot overlooking a golf course for $235,000 US (about $260,000 Cdn) in June.

"Around Vancouver you just can't get that," Duke Carpenter, 53, said in an interview Thursday. "In Sunshine Valley, near Manning Park, you could get a really nice log home for approximately that price but it would be on a smaller lot and usually in the woods."

Powered by a Canadian dollar worth almost 90 cents US, Canadians are eager to find affordable weekend retreats relatively close to home that will double as strong investments, said Mike Kent of Birch Bay's Windermere Real Estate.

Border hoppers now account for nearly half the business being handled by real estate agents in Blaine, Semiahmoo and Birch Bay, he said, matching a pace last seen for roughly four years after Expo 86.

King expects the 2010 Olympics to refocus American attention on the region and push up prices which are relatively reasonable today. He notes that there are more homes listed today for under $300,000 in Whatcom County than in all of the Lower Mainland.

Carpenter, who works as a background performer in the movie industry, said affordability and Birch Bay's proximity to Vancouver were the big selling points for both him and his wife, who is nearing retirement as a schoolteacher.

With a Nexus card for nipping across the border, they can be back in their townhouse in Burnaby with their 21-year-old son in less than an hour. He said they were also attracted to Birch Bay's sunny climate, the people, the variety of recreational options and the comfort of knowing that their recreational property is protected by a security guard.

"Proximity was the big factor," Carpenter said. "There are other places I would probably rather live, but they're a lot farther away."

They are also a lot more expensive. In April, Re/Max Canada reported that foreigners and Alberta oil executives were paying $1 million-plus for winterized waterfront homes on Salt Spring Island, Shuswap Lake and Kelowna. Middle-income earners were settling for condos or back-lot properties with waterfront access, or more affordable locations like Harrison Lake in the Fraser Valley or the Interlakes area of the Cariboo.

"Since then, we have seen further price increases, probably an average 10-12 per cent," Elton Ash, Kelowna-based vice-president of Re/Max of Western Canada, said Thursday.

(prepared by Vancouver Sun)