I just had this artical written about me for Top Agent Magazine. It is always humbling to read what others say about you. If you subscribe to the magazine keep a look out for the article!

I can’t wait to see it….and it won’t be long before I am on Mountain FM so keep your ears open.

  Option only available to those unable to vote in person

Source: Whistler Question

Author: Christopher Poon

Whistler council this week gave the first three readings to a bylaw that would allow voting by mail in Whistler for November’s municipal election.

Once given final approval, the bylaw would allow residents and homeowners outside of the municipality to vote via snail mail for the next Whistler mayor and set of councillors. The bylaw would also allow disabled or injured people currently in the municipality to vote by mail, providing their disability or injury affects their ability to vote in a conventional manner.

In a presentation to council at Tuesday’s (June 21) meeting, RMOW chief election officer (CEO) Shannon Story outlined what the mail-in voting in Whistler would entail, including who would be eligible and the demand that she’s received from out of town homeowners.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls and emails about it,” said Story.

According to Story, mail-in voting would effectively negate the need for a ballot booth set up in West Vancouver for Whistler homeowners in the Lower Mainland, and would hopefully see an increase in voters outside of Whistler.

If approved for the fall, the mail ballots would be sent out via regular mail to those eligible at a cost of $3.50 per package. Those voting would have to sign up for a package starting Sept. 9 and should expect to receive their package between Nov. 3 and 17. Voters would have until Nov. 19 to return the packages.

Story said there are also some eligibility guidelines out-of-town voters should be aware of, such as the same qualifications apply if the voter were to be voting in person.

“They must be 18 years or older, a Canadian citizen, and they have to be a resident of B.C. for at least six months prior,” said Story. “They must also be a resident of the RMOW or a registered owner of… property in Whistler for at least 30 days before voting day.”

When asked about the option of couriering packages, Story said the municipality will only use regular mail to send the ballots.

The bylaw must be given fourth reading before being officially approved.

Former Canucks captain speaks at Leadership Sea to Sky graduation

Source: Pique Newsmagazine

Author: Jesse Ferreras

The Vancouver Canucks planned to win a Stanley Cup this year.

They came just short of their goal, falling 4-0 to the Boston Bruins in the final of a series that went to seven games.

The reason they got there, said former Canucks captain Trevor Linden, is that they had a plan and they executed it. It brought them closer to a Stanley Cup than 28 other teams.

Having a plan and executing it was the message that Linden brought to the graduation ceremony for the seventh cohort of Leadership Sea to Sky, a program that provides lessons on leadership to business people, politicians and other residents throughout the corridor.

As keynote speaker, Linden said the best coaches he played for were the ones who had a roadmap on how to reach a goal.

“We knew we wanted to win, but the best coaches I’ve played for, (Pat) Quinn, (Marc) Crawford, (Alain) Vigneault, they gave us players a road map about how to get there,” he said. “What small steps we needed to take to make sure we got where we needed to be and gave us the best chance of winning.”

Though Linden never won a Cup with the Canucks or the three other teams he played for in his career, he nevertheless led and played with some clubs that saw plenty of success in the National Hockey League. At 21 he became team captain and led the Canucks through six playoff runs including the 1994 march to the Stanley Cup Final.

The 1997-1998 season was a turning point in Linden’s time with the Canucks. The team took on manager/coach Mike Keenan and centre Mark Messier, and Linden relinquished his captaincy to the latter. Later that season he was traded to the New York Islanders and the Canucks missed the playoffs for four straight seasons.

Keenan, Linden said Saturday, was an example of a coach who worked without a plan.

“You can’t just tell someone to go work hard and hit everything on the ice and think it’s going to work out because you’re just going to get ventilated and that’s the way it looked,” he said.

“No plan to break the puck out, no plan to forecheck, no plan in the neutral zone, and you know, when I think about the Crawford era, when I think about the Vigneault era, you talk about structure, you talk about detail, you talk about what he expects of you.

“That’s not a hockey thing, that’s an everything thing, regardless of what business you’re in, that’s a staple.”

Linden didn’t just dwell on hockey to provide a lesson in leadership. He also talked about his time as president of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), the union representing players’ interests.

Elected to the job in 1998, he oversaw the association as it negotiated a new Collective Bargaining Agreement during the 2004-2005 NHL lockout. He helped negotiate an agreement that set a salary cap for all teams, tied to league revenues. The agreement clamped down on NHL teams stacking their rosters with major players.

Linden remembers having to find solutions to complex problems, and that meant hashing out disagreements with people on your own team. As NHLPA president, he remembers having more arguments with his own side than the other.

One in particular came with hockey star Dany Heatley, then a top-flight winger for the Ottawa Senators and a candidate for a major salary increase.

Heatley called him before the agreement was set in stone and said he didn’t agree with what Linden and the NHLPA were doing. Linden later got another call from Heatley, thanking him for his work, and the next day he opened the paper to find that the player had signed a six-year, $45 million contract extension, paying him $7.5 million a season.

“It worked out pretty well for you, didn’t it Dany,” Linden told a laughing audience.

He told this story as a way of telling future leaders that it’s important to hash out disagreements in a workplace. It’s better, he said, when people disagree and talk it out. If everyone’s agreeing, he said, there’s something wrong.

“You have to create an environment where your leadership group can come in and provide feedback,” Linden said. “Be the moderator, and at times create debate. Pull it out of people. The last thing you want is a group that agrees with you on everything.

“If I was a manager I would want a healthy debate bordering on arguing rather than everyone just agreeing with each other. Your leadership team needs to buy-in, and the best way to get this, is to ask them what they think is the right thing to do, and challenge them, and allow them to have their say.”

WB parking committee rep says costs of paving and debris barrier have to be repaid somehow

By Christopher Poon

Source: Whistler Question

November 24th

6:00pm-9:00pm @ The Whistler Conference Centre

The workshops, entitled, “Our Community. Our Plan,” will provide an opportunity for community members to weigh in on proposed updates to existing policy and community directions proposed to address Whistler’s current issues. Participants will also have an opportunity to sign up for in-depth working group discussions, which will take place late November-early December.

The workshops will be hosted by the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) and will ask Whistler citizens to provide direction on the next phase of our OCP update:

The Whistler community workshop will include:

• Opportunities to review OCP update materials and to ask questions in an “open house” format;

• A brief presentation about the OCP update;

• Small table discussions on Whistler’s proposed updates to existing policy and proposed community directions;

If you want to be involved in the community and share your ideas or concerns now is your chance to speak up.

Steve

Whistler has hosted some big sporting events in the past, but nothing with as many participants as the RBC GranFondo.

Source: Pique Newsmagazine

Author: Andrew Mitchell

On Sept. 11 a field of over 4,000 riders made the 122 km journey from downtown Vancouver to Whistler, with organizers rolling out the red carpet the whole way – all of Georgia Street was closed, and two lanes through Stanley Park and over the Lions Gate Bridge. From there, riders had much of Taylor Way to themselves before turning onto the Upper Levels Highway where they had their own express lane to Whistler.

Riders took anywhere from just over three hours to nine hours to complete the ride, with another group of roadies joining the group in Squamish in the “Medio” category.

Modelled after events in Europe, the GranFondo – which translates literally as “big ride” from Italian – quickly became one of the biggest events of its kind in North America. Originally organizers planned to host 2,500 riders in the inaugural year, but with strong interest from the start they asked stakeholders and received permission to increase the field to 4,000 riders.

Organizers plan to continue to build the event, increasing the number of riders to 6,000 in 2011 and to 10,000 in 2012 – but only if their own numbers back that.

“Obviously, as event organizers we will dissect everything, and obviously there are some areas where we can improve, but the general feeling in the cycling community is that it’s an exciting event that will only grow in popularity over time,” said Neil McKinnon, one of the race’s co-founders.

“There were two big criteria we had when we decided to stage the event… one was safety and one was integrity. When it comes to safety it’s our job to analyze the event, and we went to a point where we actually put cameras on riders so we could watch the video and dissect it. There are a lot of people with opinions, and we’re gathering feedback to see how we can deliver a better, safer environment.

“As for the second one, integrity, we’re asking people to devote a weekend of their summer. It’s a big investment time-wise, and we wanted to make sure it was a great experience. I think from that perspective we really nailed it. We do have an opportunity to expand it from that perspective, because we have people telling us that it was really fun and that they would do it again.”

On Monday, Sept. 13 the organizers opened registration to founding riders, and within a short period of time the amount of demand crashed their servers. They moved onto another portal at Amazon.com, the second largest in North America, and it crashed again. Over 1,500 riders and volunteers from this year registered in the first 24 hours.

Registration for the general public will open this Monday, Sept. 20, and McKinnon expects the event will sell out. They will make a decision whether to increase the size of the field once they’ve completed their analysis of the event.

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed was one of three Whistler council members to do the ride, along with Tom Thomson and Chris Quinlan. He believes that Whistler is able to accommodate a larger event and gave the organizers high marks for a smooth first fondo.

“A lot of things were extraordinary about it,” said Melamed. “It’s not often that an event comes along that really exceeds everybody’s expectations, and right out of the gate these guys had a winning concept and by all accounts they delivered with flying colours.”

As for the resort’s ability to one day accommodate 10,000 riders, plus friends and family members, Melamed is confident it can be done.

“One of the things that was really a pleasant surprise for me was to see how perfectly suited Lot 4 was for the event – can you imagine what it would have been like if it hadn’t had pavement on it?

“And for next year’s event, already thinking ahead, we’ll have the celebration plaza finished, which can accommodate 5,000 people. It should really be no trouble at all for doubling the size. Tripling the event might be a challenge, but we’ve got time to work up to that. And really this is the perfect fit for Whistler. We do have the infrastructure, and if it’s not ready-made then it’s easily adaptable to upscale and upsize the event.”

Roger Soane, the general manager of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, estimates that they housed about 50 riders on Saturday night, and has heard nothing but positive response from other hotels, restaurants and businesses in town.

“I thought it was a great event, and we’ve talked in the past about what Whistler needs to do get on the map and stay there and here it is – we’re a great resort and we do events really well. I think the Olympics proved that, and the GranFondo was a spectacular event for Whistler. Everybody was happy, the rain co-operated and it was great for the village.”

The only challenge, said Soane, was that all the riders “wanted to sleep with their bikes.” However, he says the hotel had more than enough bike storage to accommodate guests and could accommodate a lot more riders in the future.

Michael Brisbois, the general manager for The Keg and Brandy’s, said they received notice in advance from Tourism Whistler and other organizations that it would be busy on Saturday, and took steps to accommodate the crowds.

“We had our waiters start early and our kitchen open a little earlier as well, as we were expecting a big influx of business into the resort that night,” he said. “It went very well, people were happy and it was a great clientele for the town. I think next year we would possibly open a little earlier, maybe 4 p.m. because there were already people waiting to get in that had done the ride and we could have started earlier.”

Brisbois has talked to other restaurant and shop owners and has heard that it was busy all day – first with families of riders looking for places to eat lunch and shopping before heading to the finish line, and later with riders celebrating their day.

“It was really well done, and I think it will be even better next year,” said Brisbois. “There are always a few bugs for a new event, although this one went pretty well and will be even better next year. On the whole everybody seemed extremely happy, and the resort can be proud of that.”

Mike Edwards also did the ride, as well as service a large number of riders and their families at his café businesses around Whistler. In both capacities he was extremely happy.

“As a rider it was fantastic, and really well done,” he said. “It was similar to an Ironman, where everything has been thought of ahead of time, everything was put into place,” he said. “The finish line was also incredible, really social with friends and family everywhere, and they had blankets to hand out when it got a little cooler. Everybody was really happy with the attention to detail.”

As a business owner, Edwards says he would need to compare his numbers at The Lift Coffee Company, Java and his other businesses from week to week, but expects that it will be a busy one.

“Really, 4,000 riders brought about 12,000 people to the village, and we got a tonne of traffic,” he said. “The race really brought people up here on a weekend where the weather wasn’t that great and it would have been a lot quieter.”

In terms of demographics, GranFondo riders are a dream demographic for Whistler. The largest category was Male 40 to 49 with 1,178 riders at the start line. Male 50 to 59 represented another 799 riders, and Male 30 to 39 another 492.

While the majority of riders were from the Lower Mainland there were also a large number of riders from Washington state and Alberta. A quick scan of the results also found riders from Nova Scotia, Ontario, Colorado and other destinations.

There was only one serious incident reported on the course, involving a rider that crashed on the Upper Levels Highway. According to media reports, triathlon organizer John Botelho appeared to lose control of his bike on a downhill section and fell, hitting his head. Doctors induced a coma as a result of brain swelling. He was still unconscious at press time.

Race organizers said they were investigating the incident and will look for ways to make the race even safer next year, but by all accounts it appears to be an accident. No other injuries were reported.

New neighbourhood sets off game of musical chairs with WHA properties, but some not selling

By Mandrew Mitchell

Pique Newsmagazine

The first families moved into Cheakamus Crossing this past week, and the migration to the new neighbourhood will continue through early October as units are released. When complete, the former 2010 athletes’ village will house roughly 1,300 residents in employee and price-restricted duplexes, homes, townhomes and condominiums.

The opening of Cheakamus Crossing is the catalyst for a round of musical chairs in Whistler, opening up other Whistler Housing Authority (WHA) properties and rental accommodation throughout the resort.

For the most part, according to WHA manager Marla Zucht, the move has gone smoothly. Only a handful of Cheakamus residents who own other WHA units have been unable to sell their first properties at the maximum resale value.

“We’ve been setting a blistering pace of resales this summer primarily due to the Cheakamus Crossing and Rainbow purchasers divesting of their current WHA properties,” said Zucht. “Most of the units have in fact been selling quickly and at their maximum resale price.”

The exceptions have been the larger three-bedroom units at 19 Mile Creek in Alpine Meadows and Bear Ridge in Spring Creek that continue to appreciate in step with the Vancouver Housing Price Index.

Since 2006 all new and resold WHA homes have been tied to the Core Consumer Price Index for Canada, which traditionally has yielded returns of between one and two per cent. By way of comparison the Vancouver housing market grew by over 50 per cent between 2000 and 2005.

According to Zucht, there are 16 Cheakamus Crossing purchasers who were required to sell their previous properties. And to date all but five have sold. Those unsold include two three-bedroom units at 19 Mile Creek and two three-bedroom units at Bear Ridge. There is also a two-bedroom unit at The Lofts.

“They are great units,” said Zucht of the houses at 19 Mile Creek and Bear Ridge, “but just higher priced than many of the comparable-sized units in the rest of the price-restricted inventory. Purchasers now have more options and supply available to them in the price-restricted inventory.

Zuch estimates that 85 per cent of the buyers at Cheakamus Crossing are coming from rental properties, most of those located in Whistler. That, in turn, has meant a flood of units on the rental market, and prices are dropping.

“There are currently more advertised rental units available in Whistler than there have been since 2006,” confirmed Zucht.

All of the owners of the unsold WHA homes have signed an agreement to sell their other real estate property within six months. In the meantime they are permitted to rent out the property at rates allowed by the WHA.

All owners must file an Occupancy Declaration to the WHA each year, which allows the WHA to track owners and rentals.

“Typically what happens, and it happens frequently, is tenants (and landlords) will call the WHA to confirm what the maximum allowable rental rate is on a particular resident-restricted unit,” said Zucht. “If the tenant thinks they are being overcharged for their rental accommodations at a resident-restricted unit they should contact the WHA so we can confirm the allowable monthly rental rate…

“The restrictions on rental (amount, duration and annual increases) are very clearly stated in the housing covenants. There should be no ambiguity on what is allowed to be charged.”

However, if those homes don’t sell within the six months, either to people on the WHA waitlist or to other resort employees – which is allowed if a home is passed over by everyone on the WHA waitlist – the WHA cannot compel the owner to sell for less than the maximum resale price.

In those cases, which are rare, Zucht says the rental period could be extended with special approval from the WHA’s board of directors. As well, there is a clause within the employee housing covenants that gives the municipality the right to purchase a home, although the clause has never been used.

While that creates the issue of WHA homes being rented for income, Zucht says most of the affected owners are motivated sellers who would be willing to sell for less than the maximum price.

“The reality is that most purchasers need to sell their other unit in order to make the finances work on the purchase of their new unit.”

There are currently 614 applicants on the WHA waitlist, down from a high of over 750 a year ago. Roughly 46 per cent of the people on the waitlist are already WHA owners.

In the four years since the first home was sold to an employee off the waitlist there have been less than 20 homes sold that way. Between 30 and 40 resales take place each year.

Other than the homes owned by residents moving into Cheakamus Crossing, the WHA has nine units listed across Whistler – seven of which are three bedrooms at Bear Ridge and 19 Mile Creek. A few of them belong to residents moving into the new Rainbow neighbourhood.

“Again, it’s the three-bedroom owners that are trying right now to hold out for top dollar,” said Zucht.

Sales of Edge Cards, season passes expected to surpass last year’s record

By: Andrew Mitchell

Pique Newsmagazine

Despite a slumping economy and the obstacles created by hosting the 2010 Olympic Games, the 2009-2010 season was a record for Whistler Blackcomb when it came to season pass and Edge Card sales. A big part of the reason was a decision to discount the early bird sale price to $1,099 from the previous year’s price of $1,529, and the price of a spirit pass to $999, down from $1,149.

“It had to do with access, closing parking lots, a reduction of terrain during the Games,” explains Stuart Rempel, vice-president of sales and marketing for Whistler Blackcomb.

The economy was also a factor, hence Whistler Blackcomb’s decision to offer the same $1,099 price until April 30 of this year – and save on the 12 per cent Harmonized Sales Tax.

“It was a tremendous success, not only in getting people to renew and upgrade from an Edge Card, but also for new customers and people who have not had passes before,” said Rempel. Whistler Blackcomb doesn’t give out numbers, but Rempel says sales are already on track to beat last year’s record.

“We’ve never done a spring offering on passes before, and I can say it was a great success.”

Now, until Oct. 11, the early bird price is $1,349, slightly more than the $1,299 price listed after the April HST deadline. That’s still a savings of $350 for the regular season pass price of $1,699, and six per cent less than the price two years ago – even with the HST.

Also back this year is a promotion that allows pass holders to purchase a Whistler Blackcomb gift card valued at $500 for just $399, which can be redeemed at any of Whistler Blackcomb’s restaurant, rental or retail locations, as well as for ski school lessons – with all season pass discounts applying. As well, pass holders can purchase an additional three tickets for $139, which is $47 per ticket.

Rempel believes the pass is good value at the early bird price.

“We have one of the longest ski seasons in North America, from November to May; we are the largest resort in North America and one of the largest in the world, and we have a great variety of terrain and a great, consistent snowfall,” he said.

As well, season pass holders will receive a 20 per cent discount at mountaintop restaurants and all retail stores; $50 off Snow School, $100 off Whistler Heli-Skiing, two-for-one Fresh Tracks Breakfast tickets (available until Dec. 24), discounts for summer glacier skiing and unlimited summer sightseeing.

Spirit Passes, offered to employees who work for companies that belong to the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, will be priced at $1,149, the same as the 2008-09 season.

According to Rempel, Whistler Blackcomb has stepped up advertising and marketing for the coming season, after sitting back last year with the Games.

“Last year was a challenge with the resort basically sold out for the month of January, and the perception of construction and closures, but obviously that’s all gone away and the Games have created a massive amount of awareness of Whistler,” he said.

“We’re working hard to put relevant and compelling offers in front of guests, regional and destination markets,” he said. “Last year our regional visits were tremendous, we sold more season passes and Edge Cards than every year before, and we suspect we will sell more this year.

Whistler Blackcomb is the only resort to advertise in the September issue of Powder Magazine, and one of the only resorts to advertise in other publications like Ski, Skier, Skiing, Transworld Snowboarding, Snowboard Canada and other industry magazines. As well, the resort has been doing direct marketing in destination markets like the U.S., U.K. and Australia, while working with tour operators to focus more on the long haul and long stay market.

As well, Whistler Blackcomb has boosted its presence at major ski shows in the U.S. and Canada with an emphasis on snow and the fact that Whistler Blackcomb had its second best season in history in 2009-2010 with 1,492 cm of snowfall.

While the economy continues to be an issue, Rempel says a lot has been done to make Whistler more attractive.

“The highway is an amazing asset for the people in Vancouver and Seattle, and when the border crossing work is completed at Douglas and the Pacific Crossing it will be even better,” said Rempel. “There are improvements to the airport in Vancouver and we’ve made all kinds of on-mountain improvements with VANOC (for the Games) such as a huge increase in snowmaking. The Peak 2 Peak is an asset that no one else has, and a huge driver of business both summer and winter. Our summer visits were up over last year, and last year was a 45 per cent increase over the year before.”

Whistler Blackcomb has spent roughly $8 million in on-mountain improvements this year, ranging from repainted lift towers to summer grooming of runs that allow them to hold the snow better and open with less snow. The Village Gondola cabins have also been improved this year.

Source: Whistler Question

Author: Jennifer Miller

Regional campaigns and price point make way for destination markets and overall experience

In the post-2010 Olympic world, the board of Tourism Whistler (TW) has taken stock, regrouped, consulted the organization’s members and reviewed the latest research.

The results are some significant shifts in the way TW markets Whistler.

Instead of regional campaigns that focus on a price point, which have been the norm in recent years, upcoming advertising will target destination travellers and focus more on what makes Whistler unique.

Barrett Fisher, TW president, said the organization’s marketing dollars are shifting more to broadcast and social media, instead of print, to tell more of a visual story and be able to share the ambiance of the Whistler experience.

“Content is important, but we have this bigger brand story to tell,” she said on Monday (July 19). “It’s really a collection of the entire resort experience that makes Whistler so unique.”

Plans for the winter 2010-’11 marketing campaign build on the “celebratory platform” of the Winter Games, showcasing Whistler as a joyous place full of wonder and magic, Fisher said. It’s about the personality of the resort, not the bricks and mortar or a single activity offering, she said.

TW’s website (whistler.com) is being redesigned to be more “experiential,” with a launch planned for fall, she said.

In direct response to feedback from TW members, which include business operators and property owners, the board has also decided it’s time to return to focusing more marketing efforts on Whistler’s destination markets. For the past two years or so, a conscious decision was made to spend more marketing dollars on regional markets such as the Lower Mainland.

Fisher said that decision was made because of the economic downturn, research that showed long-haul markets were sticking closer to home and the anticipated Olympic aversion leading to fewer visits from overseas guests and those from non-regional U.S. areas. The board knew TW needed to focus its marketing on the groups that would come, she added.

But members expressed concerns about that approach in the listening sessions held over the past couple of months. Typically, destination visitors stay longer and spend more money than do regional guests, Fisher said.

Despite research that indicates the economies in the U.S. and U.K. won’t turn around quickly, the board agreed it’s time to shift dollars back to destination marketing, she said. Regional markets are still “very important for Whistler,” but with high awareness levels in short-haul markets, members have asked TW to “shift its focus outward,” Fisher added.

Long-haul U.S., U.K. and Australia are top on the list, with Mexico and Japan is also on the radar. TW is also trying to see where future growth might be found, with Germany, Brazil, China and possibly India as opportunities.

TW is also calling on its members to help with marketing efforts. While TW focuses on destination markets, members can advertise regionally. Social media efforts can be passed on through members’ contacts, she said.

“Every member is an important piece of our marketing reach and frequency,” Fisher said.

In turn, TW officials are committing to seek more regular feedback from members, with the possibility of monthly listening sessions and a marketing committee with representatives from each resort sector.

A newsletter about TW’s new strategic directions will be sent by email to all members later this week, Fisher said.

Source: Pique Newsmagazine

Author: Stephen Smysnuik

Home-sellers: you may need to wait a year before you sell.

Despite a surge of houses listed, and despite more buyer interest than last year, Pat Kelly of the Whistler Real Estate Company said 2010 is shaping up to be an average year in terms of home sales. Typically, Whistler does between 400 and 600 transactions in a year. There are about 1,000 places on the market right now, so time on the market is about a year.

But Kelly said this is typical for a resort market.

“We are dealing with a discretionary item,” he said, “and certainly consumer confidence isn’t at the same level as it was early in the last decade,” he said.

Since house prices haven’t increased as they have in Vancouver, people are a little more cautious of investing. But if the houses are priced according to the market, sellers could get an offer right away. Kelly said he has multiple prospective buyers interested in certain properly priced homes.

“If you price in an effective manner, your house will be sold in under six months,” he said.

Many people are concerned they’re not getting the money they believe their house is worth, which Kelly attributes to them harking back to 2007 or 2008, when the market was much stronger.

While returns on chalets have reached between eight and nine per cent (average price for a house in 2002 was $1.225 million versus $1.574 million in 2010), homeowners of condos and townhouses haven’t experienced the same return. Condos in 2002 averaged $450,000 versus $452,000 today. Townhouses averaged $709,000 in 2002 and $815,000 in 2010.

“The market went up in 2006 and 2007 to higher numbers and has now come back (down),” he said. Kelly added that because Whistler is such a small market, a few $3 million-transactions can skew the statistic considerably.

If Kelly hears people complaining that they’re not selling their homes fast enough his response is typically: “I tell them their price is wrong.”

He said real estate markets operate in a balanced, buyer-orientated market seven out of every 10 years. That is the case right now.

Real estate in Whistler is a direct function of tourism, typically dealing with the top five per cent income earners of Metro Vancouver. There are few international buyers, and very few Americans purchasing homes, according to Kelly.

“People are cautious right now with the way they spend money and they have to see value in what they purchase,” he said.

Despite that, he said there is no concern that developers are building more houses than there are buyers. There is more buyer interest than last year, and while Whistler is dealing with a “difficult” market at the moment, he is optimistic that it will pick up.

“Prices have not changed dramatically in the last three to four years and it’s looking like very good value for people who follow and understand Whistler,” he said. “If I was a buyer, I’d certainly want to be in this market right now.”

The market has improved from 2009, he said, which was a “low-point” in terms of sales volume. In the first six months of 2009, 176 homes were sold. That number has increased 18 per cent between January and June this year, up to 209 houses sold.

He said June has been particularly strong, though he couldn’t provide exact numbers.

The Olympics and the period following it were very slow for the real estate market, which Kelly attributes to “seasonality” and “exhaustion.” Not only was it the end of the snow season, but the town was experiencing what Park City referred to as the “Olympic hangover.”

“It’s normal to have a period when things are very slow,” Kelly said, adding that the Olympics coincided with the end of the ski season, which has always been a slow time for the real estate market.

In his research of host cities, he found that it takes about nine months to a year for the impact of the Games to be felt, though there is “no one item that drives a real estate market.”

“We are not independent of what’s going on in the world,” he said.

The American stimulus, troubles in the stock market, the troubles in Europe – these are all affecting consumer confidence in Whistler.

“As the rest of the world goes, so go we. If people’s motivation is tempered by fear, they may not be in as much of a hurry to buy something.”

Regardless, he said that house prices are “fair” at the moment and that “we’re starting to see some indications that the Olympic exposure is starting to impact people’s interest in the area.

He said there have been more foreclosures this past year than there have been in previous years but that it doesn’t have anything to do with the Whistler real estate market.

“The foreclosures that we have experienced have been a result of some bad decisions by the owners,” he said, adding that the rate of default on average is quite low in Whistler.

There was only minor activity in the week leading up to the HST. Because it only affects new properties, and because there aren’t any new properties, Whistler hasn’t been as affected as people in the city have been, where there is more new product.