Relocation services for British Columbia, Canada

Squamish

Why consider Squamish?

Squamish from the air,
courtesy of District of Squamish

This is a community that you may not have considered as a place to live, visit or invest in. Perhaps this is because it has been something of a forgotten community.

Squamish is located along the Sea to Sky Highway north of Vancouver and south of Whistler in the coastal mountains and is a community of unparalleled scenic beauty, lifestyle advantages and outdoor recreation.

Before 1958, when Highway 99 was opened, connecting Squamish to Vancouver, Squamish must have been a very isolated community. Now it is on the route to Whistler and beginning to be a destination in its own right.

Squamish now has a population of approximately 17,000.

What can you do in Squamish?

Photo from Gwen’s dirtbiking trip to SquamishThere is more to Squamish than an comfort stop en route to or from Whistler. If your read the following list you will see that it is living up to it’s self-penned name: “Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada”. All of these activities are available within minutes of your home in Squamish:

• walking,
• hiking,
• camping,
• boating,
• golfing,
• bird watching,
• canoeing,
• skiing,
• cycling,
• fresh and salt water fishing,
• four wheel driving,
• helicopter tours,
• horseback riding,
• mountain biking,
• mountaineering,
• river rafting,
• rock climbing,
• Kayaker enjoying the white water thrills.
  Photo courtesy of Squamish Districtsquash,
• tennis,
• indoor swimming,
• hockey,
• ocean and white water kayaking,
• scuba diving,
• snowmobiling,
• windsurfing.

Does Squamish have a vision ?

The Chief is a popular climing and hiking destination. Photo courtesy of Squamish DistrictOne thing that I think has served Vancouver and Whistler well is it’s urban planning.
Squamish has learnt from this and has an ambitious long term vision for the community: the Squamish Downtown Waterfront Concept Plan

Some of the major elements of the plan are defined and described as follows:

• better use of the waterfront
  this includes sea wall access, similar to that in West Vancouver or Stanley Park.
• integrated commercial and residential housing
  so artisan shops, restaurants, retail, and a hotel complex are incorporated with condos and townhouses throughout.
• creation of offshore island
  by restoring the waterways, an island is created and a bridge will connect the existing downtown with the island, thereby also creating a channel of quiet waters ideal for kayaking, canoeing, and other water-based recreation opportunities.
• restoration of the beach
  the existing beach at the south end of the island is restored and transformed into a featured public amenity.
• Cruise ship terminal
  A full service marine terminal will accommodate passenger ferries and cruise ships.
• Hotel and Conference Centre
  Tourist accommodation and facilities for large professional events supports the tourism industry.

Sea to Sky University

Squamish is to be the home of a new University - the Sea to Sky University. Development is due to start this year, with the first student starting studies in September 2006.

Aside from the campus itself there is development of up to 150 single family homes and 50 town homes. Lots will be available for reservation toward the end of this year with sales in the spring of 2006. The starting prices for the town homes will be in the range of $550,000, plus GST and the single family homes on 4,000 sq ft lots will be starting in the range of $750,000, plus GST.

Squamish real estate is hot

Squamish street scene looking toward Mt Garibaldi
Photo courtesy of Squamish DistrictThe future for Squamish seems very healthy. The 2010 Olympics themselves are only a part of the story, as I hope you can see. It is no surprise that prices in Squamish have appreciated 60% from three years ago and 33.7% in the last year with the demand continuing to be strong.

The population is expected to grow by 50% over the next seven years the demand for re-sale homes, new housing, commercial property and development land will remain steady.

Another factor that suggest there will be pressure on prices is that there is very little vacant land. Many long time land owners simply hold onto the land for family and friends and will not release it onto the open market for sale. The other factor is that there are several hazard areas (flood and debris flow), which makes some of the land less appealing from an investment perspective.

It should be noted that residential building lots are currently selling for approximately $30-$35/sq ft. You may be aware that location is the single most important deciding factor when considering any real estate purchase and the Highlands is considered to be the most desirable location for residential housing in Squamish as it does not sit within any hazard areas nor do property titles contain any restrictive covenants.

Below is a table showing the Benchmark prices for typical property in Squamish. This comes from the Vancouver Real Estate Board’s monthly statistics. More real estate information is available directly from us or our real estate site - VancouverForHomes.com:

Benchmark Prices: Squamish as at February 2010
Category	Benchmark $	1 Yr Change	3 Yr Change
Detached	$528,044	-0.50%	14.80%
Source:Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver - MLS ®

Links:

• District of Squamish
  http://www.district.squamish.bc.ca/
  http://www.squamish.ca/
• Squamish Official Community Plan
  http://www.district.squamish.bc.ca/OCP/
• Squamish Chamber of Commerce
  http://www.squamishchamber.com/
• The Chief - Squamish Newspaper
  http://www.squamishchief.com/
• School District 48 - Whistler and Squamish
  http://www.sd48.bc.ca/
• Sea to Sky Highway
  http://www.gtmconsulting.com/info/project_updates/travelling-sts.htm
• Squamish webcam
  http://www.district.squamish.bc.ca/Webcam.aspx
• Gwen’s diary includes her dirt biking trip