Fort St. John's Real Estate Market Ranked 5th in Province
November 9, 2011 City of Fort St. John
A report by the Real Estate Investment Network has Fort St. John as one of the top regions that will outperform others in B.C. over the next three to five years. Top British Columbia Investment Towns 2011 ranks Fort St. John's real estate market in fifth place, behind only Surrey, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, Kamloops and Abbotsford.
The report analyzed real estate investment opportunities in cities across the province. Its criteria included growing population and what's being done to handle that growth, as well as employment levels.
"With the fairly recent attention being focused on the region as a viable source of shale based natural gas, we will definitely see a boost to the economy as exploration and production in the area increases," according to Don Campbell, president of REIN. "As new drilling techniques for shale are discovered, the area may become even more lucrative to oil and gas companies."
He added that Fort St. John's infrastructure development was key in its ranking.
"With several major projects set to be completed in Fort St. John during the next decade, the city will witness rapid population growth. The completion of the new Fort St. John Hospital in 2012 and the opening of the Site C dam project in 2020 will re-establish the city as a hub for northeastern BC. The ripple effect created by these two major projects will increase rents and home prices in the region, making it even more desirable to investors and businesses."
Dawson Creek was listed just one notch below Fort St. John, at number 6. The rest of the top 11 include Kelowna, Comox Valley, Penticton, Prince George and Vancouver.