Our Coastal Area...Needs Ferry Service

Brokers: Cat loss will sink home prices
Fewer Americans will buy area vacation properties, they say
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Fri. Jan 22 - 4:46 AM
The loss of the Cat ferry could be catastrophic for Yarmouth’s real estate market, say local brokers.

"The lack of a ferry will have a negative impact on average home sale prices," said Debbie Boudreau, a Realtor with Yarmouth’s 1761 Realty Ltd., in an interview on Thursday.

Bay Ferries Ltd. of Prince Edward Island suspended the service between Yarmouth and Maine after the provincial government announced in December that it would no longer subsidize the link.

The absence of the ferry will also hurt the lucrative "summer settler" real estate business from Americans who buy vacation properties in the area, said Ms. Boudreau, who used to see a lot of walk-in U.S. business from the Cat at her Main Street office.

"They like ocean properties," she said, adding that Americans found Yarmouth real estate a bargain, especially when the U.S. dollar was stronger, and convenient to get to when there was a ferry running.

"As transportation has gotten worse, those numbers have decreased and some are looking to sell," she said, noting that Americans could get to Yarmouth and back for long weekends when the ferry ran.

"They’re finding that the cost of maintaining a home they use two or three times a year isn’t worth it," she said, adding that recent cuts to air travel to Yarmouth have further hurt transportation links to the area.

Ms. Boudreau said she sold a piece of oceanfront Yarmouth-area land three years ago to a couple from Connecticut who built a $400,000 home on it.

But she recently unloaded a local property that had been listed at US$200,000 for C$130,000.

"It’s a bit of the economy, a bit of the ferry," she said. "Fewer people are looking and values have gone down."

Richard LeBlanc, owner of Victory Realty in Yarmouth, echoed Ms. Boudreau’s concerns about the loss of the ferry.

"It’s probably going to really reduce the number of American buyers we’ve been accustomed to," he said. "That’s going to come to a halt because we don’t have that direct link."

Mr. LeBlanc also expected to see American-owned properties put up for sale with the loss of the ferry.

"It’s probably going to mean a general reduction in property values," he said.

Mike Randall of The Real Estate Store in Yarmouth said his office realized "substantial business" from Cat passengers from New England and Ontario.

"They would stop and inquire about properties," he said. "Some would acquire."

He and Mr. LeBlanc both hope ferry service between Yarmouth and the U.S. will be restored.

"I hope the powers that be will realize what they’ve done," said Mr. Randall, noting there is a need for more consistent commercial ferry service between the two regions.

Mr. LeBlanc said Yarmouth has the port facilities to support a ferry.

"I can’t see government not doing something," he said. "I think something will happen but whether it will be this year or not is hard to say."

The province, which said Bay Ferries wanted $6 million to $10 million to keep the Cat afloat in 2010, is waiting on an Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency study to develop a long-term solution to southwest Nova Scotia’s transportation requirements.

The study is expected to be released in the spring.

Ms. Boudreau said Yarmouth-area real estate remains popular with affluent German and Austrian buyers unaffected by local transportation issues.

"They don’t come to put up $80,000 cottages," she said. "They put up $300,000 homes."

( berskine@herald.ca)