Fire sales
Wildfires in the Okanagan haven’t hurt real estate sales on the benches above the valley’s shimmering lakes, with July ranking as the second-busiest month in the past 35 years.
Curt Jansen of Skaha Hills, a joint venture of Greyback Construction Ltd. and Penticton Indian Band Development Corp., said buyers are willing to brave the risk of fire in the benchlands above Penticton for a slice of paradise.
“We’re right above the fire base, and we’re surrounded by two big bodies of water,” Jansen said. “If something was to happen, this would be a good spot.”
Just one lot remains in the development’s second phase; a third phase of 60 to 70 townhomes will launch in mid-September. This will boost the total number of units released to 160, just over a quarter of the 600 units planned.
Similarly, sales at the Cottages on Osoyoos Lake are up 50% from last summer.
“We’ve now sold 117 custom homes, with 46 of those in the past 12 months,” said Eric Van Maren, managing partner of Osoyoos Cottages LP, noting that 75% of sales are to retirees.
Drought-resistant
Growing regions of the province are seeing restrictions on agricultural water use as the year’s drought deepens, but that’s not the case in many parts of the Okanagan.
“We’re not even seeing restrictions on lawn watering and golf courses,” Glen Lucas, general manager of the BC Fruit Growers’ Association, said recently. “I drove by a golf course the other day and they were watering parts that weren’t part of the fairway. And it was really green.”
But there’s no golf course at Lakestone, a project Macdonald Development Corp. acquired in Lake Country four years ago. Macdonald eliminated the golf course and vineyards the original developer had planned, scaled back the marina and reconfigured arrangement of 1,365 homes planned for the site.
And buyers weren’t teed off about not teeing off.
“It’s not really a tough sell at all,” said Howard Kruschke, who handles sales and marketing for the project.
Buyers – who are often based in the Lower Mainland but familiar with conditions in Palm Springs, Dubai and elsewhere – accept xeriscaping at Lakestone, including drought-resistant native species, as well as landscaping consistent with the local rock and pine.
“It’s not like I have to tell them about xeriscaping; they already know about it. They tell me about xeriscaping and their experience with it,” Kruschke said.
Lakestone’s first phase of 105 homes is 90% sold, and Kruschke said the second phase could launch by the end of the year.
Good fences
Spectacular scenes of blazes in the South Okanagan and Kettle Valley over the past month have overshadowed some of the practical matters surrounding recovery from the wildfires, which not only claimed their share of real estate but have left some continuing management issues, too.
If good fences make good neighbours, members of the Kettle River Stockmen’s Association will help keep things neighbourly in the coming weeks by mending one of the key tools of their trade.
“Just last year there was seven kilometres of new fence built along that highway, and that’s all been burnt,” said Doug Fossen of Bar 7 Ranch in Rock Creek, president of the stockmen’s association. “Hopefully it can be somewhat fixed, but a lot of it will have to be replaced again.”
The fences are important not just for keeping cattle on their designated range, but also for keeping them out of the hay needed for winter feed. Drought and wildfire have wreaked havoc on hay supplies this summer, cutting yields from range real estate and boosting prices for available bales. •
