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December 18, 2013

Realtors in two northern B.C. boomtowns are frustrated by a lack of product in the face of huge buyer demand. Sherry Hart, broker/owner of Royal LePage Fort Nelson Realty said much of her time is spent trying find clients the ideal property when it is not being offered for sale. Harts said that in many cases owners are simply not prepared to sell, regardless of the terms being offered. There is vacant industrial land, but the lack of available contractors creates a dilemma for those wanting a turnkey building, she said. Fort Nelson is among the northern towns fueled by natural gas investments, including at least seven new LNG plants and related work. Fort St. John is a northern centre for the natural gas fields and BC Hydros proposed $7.9 billion Site C dam, which is about seven km. from the city. It can be frustrating at times, says Ron Rodgers, owner/managing broker for Northeast B.C. Real Estate. I had a group of investors in my office the other week with $4 million to spend and they were prepared to sign on the dotted line right away. However, I didnt have a list of investment opportunities for them to choose from. There are a lot of investors who are looking forcommercial and/or industrial real estate in the Fort St. John area, both locally and from out of town. Financing can also be a problem. Even with all of the attention and the huge potential of northern B.C., getting mortgages and financing is still problematic for many investors, developers and business owners because we are told by the banks that we have a resource based economy Rodgers said. Ironic, isnt it? There is still caution among smaller investors, Rodgers added. After all, no LNG plants have actually been built and Site C will be facing public hearings for months before a decision is made. Until full commitments are made for these projects and actual contracts are signed, there are not a lot of commercial real estate sales that have been completed. While there is a good demand for retail and office space, the highest demand in this area will always be for industrial space to accommodate the many businesses that service and develop the oil and gas reserves in this area. For a full report on boomtown real estate, see the January issue of Western Investor.

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Boomtown realtors frustrated by lack of product - Western Investor (subscription)