Derrick Penner
Sun
A Vancouver Island developer is opting out of the traditional list-and-sell sales method to throw the last five units in an upscale Parksville development on the open auction block.
“Rather than waiting for the market to come to him, he’s going to the market,” Keiran Holm, regional manager for Richmond-based Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers’ real-estate auctions division, said in an interview.
“I think that could be a wise move,” Holm added, with news about real estate markets around the province slowing down and inventories of units building.
“As stories around real estate get negative, people will hesitate,” Holm surmised.
Today, however, there will be no hesitation as the unreserved auction Holm has been planning, taking place at three satellite locations, will dispense with the properties to the highest bidders, regardless of how high or low their bids might be.
The apartments are in the 30-unit Onyx building in Craig Bay, a 420-unit resort development near Parksville.
The auction is getting mixed reviews in the local real estate community, with at least one realtor hoping it will put a renewed spotlight on the market, and others concerned that poor results could erode the property values of current owners in the Onyx building who are also trying to sell.
Besides the apartments being auctioned, at least six are listed for resale at prices ranging from $489,000 to almost $1.2 million.
Harry Greenberg, a realtor with Royal LePage Parksville who has two of those resale listings, said the final five units that have gone unsold have languished on the market for no reason, so he is happy to see the auction.
“[The auction] brings Craig Bay to the attention of people from around the world, because that’s the way [Ritchie Bros.] promotes things,” Greenberg said.
He believes the auction process will make the sale more competitive, and, “I’d bet [the five apartments] are going to bring a fair buck.”
However, Ron Limer, a Parksville-Qualicum area director on the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, said some owners in the Onyx project are wary of the auction.
“The concern is, especially for those who have their properties for sale, is that [the auction will] just blow [the units] out the door and devalue those on sale,” Limer said. “That’s relatively a realistic concern that one would have.”
Sales in the Parksville-Qualicum market have slowed, Limer said.
The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board statistics recorded 51 Multiple Listing Service registered sales in Parksville during May compared with 93 in the same month a year ago. May’s sales were even down from the 67 units sold in April.
The sale starts at 12 p.m. Pacific time, and 1 p.m. mountain, simulcast at three locations: the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort in Parksville, River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond and the Deerfoot Inn & Casino in Calgary.
