WesternInvestor.com’s most-viewed B.C. news articles of the year made it clear readers are looking to WI for the scoop on where in the province to invest safely and with high return. From Kelowna’s affordable and alluring residential market, to the province’s most lucrative ski resorts, Western Investor provided readers with little-known sources of commercial investment payoffs.
Here is our first annual countdown of our five most-read British Columbia stories in 2016.
5. “Dragon” joins in an Okanagan real estate feast
Our first story to make the list highlights the Okanagan as a prime spot for millionaires and millennials alike to live and invest. As compared to the Lower Mainland, the cost of owning property in Kelowna is substantially lower. Investors, such as the Dragons’ Den’s Jim Treliving took advantage of the migration of millennials to Kelowna from Vancouver by developing a residential community in the city. The story, published in May, also reported building permit values and transaction volumes in Kelowna were up from the previous year.
4. B.C largest land agent really deals in water
Foreign investment in British Columbian land is in high demand – but according to our number four most-read article, U.S. and Chinese investors are more interested in what falls on our land than even the land itself. LandQuest Realty Corp. says that it’s B.C.’s rainfall and water supply that keeps investors from drought-prone countries interested in B.C. rural and recreational land. Rudy Nielsen of LandQuest Realty believes British Columbia represents the most promising real estate in Canada due to its water access.
3. Trump tower sells out in Vancouver
Before Donald Trump went from presidential candidate to president-elect, Western Investor reported on The Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver’s sold out condos, sold at a record-setting price of $1,615 per square foot. Although published in the spring, the story picked up a lot of traffic post-election.
2. Six top British Columbia ski resorts to buy into now
Our runner up for this year’s top story covers something of interest to investors and consumers alike: snow resort getaways! Western Investors’ list of the most profitable ski resorts across the province appealed to our entire readership, possibly because it took readers away to a winter wonderland and opened up investors to a potential windfall of multi-family investment.
1. Kamloops, Coquitlam head list of top towns for property investors
The most-read story of 2016 shined a spotlight on the top small cities in Western Canada that hold the most potential for high returns on real estate investment. Although it featured one Alberta town, B.C. towns dominated the rest of the list, with Terrace and Nanaimo rounding off the countdown. The story was popular with our readers in these smaller communities, some of whom expressed their content with seeing their hometowns recognized for their economic development, via social media.
