This September marks a new season for me as our youngest heads off to school! Over the past decade, I’ve balanced our little kids, my career, and a very hands-on role in our real estate investments—a dance of steps back, sideways, and forward. Ever the planner, I coincided the end of this chapter of intense juggling with turning 40 this past spring.
At the beginning of my 30s, I worked in mining and had a set of skills and knowledge related to this. As I incessantly sent us into one real estate investment after the next, I developed a whole new suite of skills and knowledge related to taking homes apart and putting them back together. I learned how to plan and execute projects – managing contractors, designers, architects, engineers, and municipal officials. I also learned how to be an effective landlord and property manager. I’m grateful for these experiences which made this past decade such a productive and rewarding time, and am excited to enter this next chapter energized, focused, and equipped to help you achieve your goals.
As we enter the fall of 2025, Canadian headlines still paint an unclear picture of which way housing markets are heading. It’s during these times that it’s most important to bring the focus down to the specific markets that affect you. When I scan the national headlines, it sounds a bit bleak. But the reality on the ground here in Squamish and Whistler is obviously far more nuanced.
This newsletter is focused on helping you get a clearer understanding of where the market is at right now and I’ve included graphs below for you to scrutinize/make your own judgements from. For those who wish to just hear my opinion, it is this:
Whistler: has always been a volatile market with dramatic sales volumes and price swings, related to the fact that these are mostly secondary dwellings. The market can gap up and gap down during unusual times. Overall the market is soft, but sellers are generally sophisticated investors with the ability to be patient. In the single-family segment, buyers are negotiating and sellers are bringing their price expectations down slowly. Condos and townhouse prices are generally holding steady with slight declines, although sales volumes are quite low.
Squamish: back to normal market territory. This defies the muted market seen in most other locations across the country. I expect continued steady price growth particularly in the single family segment, whereas price growth in the townhouse and condo segments will continue to be controlled by steady supply increases. Single-family dwellings will out-perform these other segments due to increases in land value.
We all seek good investments and a nice lifestyle. Since early 2022, real estate has become a less-favoured investment class due a combination of relatively high borrowing costs, the hangover from the market party experienced in 2021, and a slew of heavy-handed policy changes (anti-flipping penalties, underutilized housing tax, foreign buyer ban, etc.). During this same time, the stock market has soared, making real estate look all the less attractive. All of this is cyclical and something will give. Real estate offers good long-term investment prospects and in many cases, provides the lifestyle benefits we seek.
Thanks again to my clients—past, present, and future—for your trust and confidence in me. I take your wealth creation (and preservation) seriously, and it gives me great satisfaction to be your trusted guide in your real estate decisions.
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Lindsay
604-612-1484
lindsay@lindsaymcivorrealestate.com
Follow me on Instagram @squamish_whistler_real_estate