Shuwap, Salmon Arm an alternateve......"Boomers boost demand for holiday homes"

"The price and the proximity to Vancouver made it a very attractive development."

Located 90 minutes from downtown Vancouver on an 18-hectare treed area at the end of Cultus Lake in Chilliwack, the cottages will be built on private land.

The homes -- ranging from 900 square feet to 1,700 square feet and priced at between $330,000 and $580,000 -- will be built in stages, with the first few ready next summer. More than 100 additional homes will eventually be built in the area, but no date has been set for the pre-sale.

Many of the buyers were aging baby boomers buying a second home for holiday use, said Hare.

"Nothing like this exists at the lake right now," he added.

But year-round Cultus resident Kevin Ault said he's concerned the new development will make summer traffic on the Columbia

Valley Highway even worse.

"There's one road in and out," he said. "We already have to pick and choose our times to come and go . . . It's all well and good to bring in development, but we need the infrastructure to support it."

Richard Wenham, a Chilliwack realtor with Homelife Glenayre, said he's watched property prices at Cultus rise in recent years, more than doubling due to interest from people across Metro Vancouver.

"Some of the residents I've

spoken to are a little concerned

. . . about the burden more people will have on existing facilities at the lake itself," Wenham said.

"This is a desirable place to have a vacation home. The prices just continue to go up."

Cultus isn't unique -- the holiday property hype seems to be sweeping the Fraser Valley.

In Mission, RE/MAX realtor Al Kubas said prices around Silvermere Lake and Lake Erroch have "gone berserk."

"I can't believe it. It scares me a little. I've never seen the market go 51/2 years like this," he said.

Because private property around many local lakes was purchased long ago and the remainder is often provincial park land, when a private property goes up for sale, the price is steep.

Many of the buyers are from Vancouver, retirees or people with "old money," said Andy Tepasse, a realtor with RE/MAX in Hope, where property within walking distance of Kawkawa Lake has more than doubled.

A four-bedroom home with a lake view now costs about $380,000 when three years ago it would have cost $150,000.

"We're only two hours away from Vancouver, so it's an easy weekend trip," said Tepasse. "We're definitely seeing people from Vancouver taking an interest."

The downside is that "it's driving the prices up for the local home buyer," he added.

And the trend doesn't seem to be showing any signs of letting up.

"I've been predicting a stop to this for the last two years, but it seems that locally, provincially, even globally, there's just more people in the market for holiday homes."

(prepared by Glenda Luymes/Vancouver Province)


p.s. CHECK OUT THE SHUSWAP for a holiday home! Only a five hour drive from downtown Vancouver on the Trans Canada Highway! Contact June Conway for your Shuswap holiday home: june@juneconway.com