MOUNTAIN RETREAT
WHISTLER, RESORT MUNICIPALITY
POPULATION: 8,713 (2016 census)
POPULATION DENSITY PER SQ. KM: 755.2
PRIVATE DWELLINGS: 8,549 (occupied by
usual residents: 3,367)
CLOSEST HOSPITAL: Squamish General
CLOSEST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: YVR
COMMUTING TIME FROM VANCOUVER:
1.5 to 2 hours, depending on traffic and road
conditions
AVERAGE ASSESSED VALUE 2018, SINGLE
FAMILY RESIDENTIAL: $1,743,000
AVERAGE ASSESSED VALUE 2019, SINGLE
FAMILY RESIDENTIAL: $1,935,000 (+11%)
WHAT $500,000 WOULD GET YOU THIS
SPRING: One-bedroom, 455-square-foot
studio apartment in Whistler Village
TOP: BEN NELMS; RIGHT: COURTESY OF ROY KANG, ROYALTY GROUP REALTY; SOURCES: STATISTICS CANADA, BC ASSESSMENT JUNE 2019 BCBUSINESS 33
MacLennan and Harvey-Wickens are
part of the growing number of British
Columbians who are investing in what
was once arguably the ultimate Canadian
middle-class dream. A log cabin with a pot-
bellied stove located on the edge of a pris-
tine lake or, if you came of age in the early
1970s, a modernist A-frame with a loft-
style sleeping area and a ceiling-mounted
replace. From Ontario's cottage country
to the shores of Okanagan Lake, having
a place in the wilderness away from it all
seemed an almost quintessentially Cana-
dian aspiration, like wanting to play left
wing for the Habs, or sharing a case of
Moosehead with Stompin' Tom Connors.
But for a time, that dream was
in danger of being relegated to
another era. "In my younger
days, people wanted a 'cabin
on the lake.' Then, all of a
sudden, that desire went
away," says Rudy Nielsen,
head of New Westminster–
based Niho Land & Cattle
Co., wh ich specia l i zes i n
brokering B.C. recreational property sales.
Owning a recreational property fell
out of fashion for almost 25 years, Nielsen
notes. "And now it's come back again,"
he says. "All of a sudden, people are like,
You know, it's nice to have a cabin on the
lake." Nielsen should know. As president
of Landcor Data Corp., he works with BC
Assessment to track the sale of all proper-
ties in the province. "I've been in the real
estate business in British Columbia for 50
years," Nielsen says. "And this is one of
the best years yet for people buying recre-
ational property."
Why the uptick in interest? For some,
the cost of home ownership in one of the
province's major urban centres is
prohibitive. For others, it's a
stress-relieving escape from
a fast-paced life and career,
as critical to mental health
as, say, a 10-minute morn-
ing meditation or a hit of
Xanax. For yet another
group of buyers, it's part of
their retirement stratešy: sell
R E C R E A T I O N A L
P R O P E R T Y
G U I D E
BUY HERE IF… You want an accessible,
year-round alpine getaway that combines
world-class skiing and hiking with all the
amenities you'd expect in a serious resort
town: top-quality restaurants, bars, spas
and shopping
HOME NUMBERS
Rudy Nielsen, who tracks
the B.C. property market,
says recreational owner-
ship is back in fashion
