It wasn’t on anyone’s radar. In fact, just about everyone thought buying a home, investing in real estate, and changing your address in the middle of a pandemic was not a smart move. In April, as the coronavirus spread, real estate sales on the Sunshine Coast dropped 33 percent in April and 44 percent in May. The writing appeared to be on the wall. The virus was killing people, traditional jobs were disappearing or on hold, family incomes were declining, and there was general fear in the population. Life as we knew it was changing.
Then the new reality set in with people transitioning from an office environment to a home office workplace to achieve health safety from Covid. They began rethinking life as they moved forward, and that has translated into a real estate boom for communities from Pender Harbour to Gibsons.
John McKenzie, a top Coast realtor at Royal LePage Sussex in Sechelt, has sold more than forty homes during the pandemic. “It was like a perfect storm. A lot of people at the end of the baby boomer group were looking to downsize. They wanted a safer, more spacious lifestyle away from dense Covid-19–threatened neighbourhoods in the city, and now employers, because of the virus, are allowing their people to work from home. They can work from anywhere.” He says it has allowed younger families to move here and work because they can. “There is no traffic, little crime, and the Sunshine Coast is a great place to raise kids.”
Because of Covid-19, the Sunshine Coast is experiencing a real estate boom that no one predicted, and it hasn’t let up. Demand for homes has outstripped supply. As a result, those earlier sales numbers in April and May have dramatically flipped around, with sales in August and September increasing more than 100 percent from the same period a year ago.
Among the newcomers are a number of young people with families or planning to have children. Two of McKenzie’s clients, Nicole Smith and John Rogers, are both thirty years old. In this new Covid world they both have the ability to work at home. They just moved from rental accommodations into a larger home they own in Wilson Creek. It has two offices, one for each of them. Owning in Metro Vancouver would have cost them double. John is a programmer and Nicole owns an internet business. They also have parents here. Nicole says, “Covid has helped us rethink our lives. We are closer to our parents. We were not able to see them for five months during Covid. We also wanted to be closer to wilderness trails, camping and hiking.”
North Vancouver residents David and Lani Morden are also recent purchasers of a waterfront condo in Sechelt. He is a private school teacher and she is a school principal. They normally travel to vacation spots around the world with their three young children, but Covid has also prompted them to rethink their priorities moving forward. So they went looking for a safer, happier place not too far from Vancouver to spend their leisure time with their family. David says, “We see the Covid reality as a bit of a gift. The Sunshine Coast has amenities and we like kayaking, biking, and nature.”
Former Toronto resident Kevin Hennessy says, “Covid has changed how people think. They just don’t want to be in a populated area stuck in apartments.” He spent the entire Covid period in his waterfront home in Sechelt. “It’s a safe place, great value for your money, and it’s in beautiful natural postcard setting.” Kevin’s older brother is also moving from Toronto to a condo he has purchased nearby.
Sotheby’s Gina Stockwell is having her best year as a realtor. With more than fifty homes sold since March and more pending, she could have never predicted what has happened with Sunshine Coast real estate. “The market is totally Covid driven. People want lifestyle changes. It is about what is important in your life and what makes you happy. When you are in lockdown, you are afraid to get in an elevator, and people don’t want to go back to that.” Her clients are young professionals and retirees. Thirty percent of her buyers are under 50, families and young working professionals in their late twenties and thirties. They are all Canadians, some returning from living in the US, and none are foreign-based purchasers. She says those still working all have something in common. “They have the ability to work from home. They can work anywhere. We have the same high-speed internet as they do in a traditional office setting, and this is where they want to be and work. They are not interested in buying in the suburbs.” She says Covid has made them think differently, and they are coming for our coastal lifestyle.
Stacey Buchhorn at Re-Max in Sechelt says her buyers are coming from Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Lower Mainland. Some are trading American and Mexican vacation properties for something on the Sunshine Coast. “They have decided to come this way, looking for retirement or recreational property closer to home at this time when travel due to Covid is restricted.” Stacey is also having her best year in real estate. Again, her younger buyers can now work from home.
Stacey’s clients, Jose and Ravena Franca, had always wanted to live in a quiet setting by the ocean. The pandemic shutdown accelerated their plans. They moved into their ocean-front condo in Sechelt last month. He is a software specialist with home-team members in Ukraine, Russia, the US, and Canada. Ravena is pursuing her degree in Psychology from UBC on line at home.
All the realtors agree, the Coast is a safe haven for their buyers in this uncertain time. Covid has made people rethink their lives and priorities and has given them a chance to step away from crowded cities into a beautiful, quiet, and more affordable part of BC.
John McKenzie predicts if the pandemic continues for another year it will be a game changer for the Sunshine Coast over the next five years.
