U.S. and U.K. investors, the dominant off-shore property owners at Whistler, are fleeing the ski resort despite its global Olympic coverage, according to a survey by New Westminster-based Landcor Data which tracked foreign ownership following the 2010 Games.
The study found that, in 2005, U.S. residents owned 1,531 properties at Whistler, or 16.9 per cent of the entire Whistler residential pool. As of the end of 2010, Americans owned 883 Whistler homes, or 9.1 per cent of the residential total. Ownership by United Kingdom residents, once the second largest contingent, fell from 163 properties in 2009 to 158 as of the end of last year. The second largest foreign owners at Whistler are now from Hong Kong, who currently own 161 properties worth $254 million, the Landcor survey found.
Buyers from Mainland China now own 6 properties at Whistler, down from 7 a year ago.
Whistler realtors suggest that the pullback by U.S. and U.K. investors is more a reflection of sluggish American and British economies and property markets than a reflection of Whistler's popularity.
The vast majority of Whistler property owners, Landcor notes, are Whistler residents and Metro Vancouver.
