A private island, a family legacy and a record sale on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast

Turnagain Island listing photo/Gina Stockwell of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

For more than 60 years, Turnagain Island was a summer retreat for the same family, a one-of-a-kind legacy waterfront property that rarely come up for sale on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.

When the 93-acre private island finally changed hands this year, selling for $13 million, it marked the region’s highest residential sale through the Multiple Listing Service, and also offered a rare look inside the sale of a beloved, closely held property.

“They were ready to pass the torch,” Stockwell said of the sellers.

Listing agent Gina Stockwell, senior vice-president of sales with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, said selling a property like Turnagain Island meant thinking differently from the outset.

The island, located in Halfmoon Bay’s Secret Cove, attracted interest from around the world before ultimately selling to a buyer from Greater Vancouver. Stockwell said the marketing campaign centred on conveying the property’s setting and lifestyle as much as its homes and infrastructure.

Capturing the property

The Sunshine Coast sits about a 40-minute ferry ride from West Vancouver. While connected to the mainland, the trip gives the region a sense of remoteness that has long attracted buyers looking for privacy and waterfront property.

The Turnagain Island property had been owned by the same family for more than 60 years. It includes two custom homes, multiple docks, municipal water and hydro, and nearly 100 acres of forest and coastline. At the lowest tide, it’s even possible to walk between the island and the mainland.

Selling the luxury listing meant A+ visuals. To achieve that, Stockwell hired a photographer and videographer who camped overnight on the island to get a full scope of the coastal lifestyle.

“They were up all night filming night shots, the sky, from sunset to sunrise, and just really capturing the essence of the property,” she said.

Looking beyond the local market

With a property unlike almost anything else on the Sunshine Coast, Stockwell said the marketing effort extended well beyond the local market.

The listing was promoted through Sotheby’s International Realty’s global network alongside Stockwell’s own database of clients and agents.

“There were eyes on the property from all over the world,” she said.

That international exposure was intentional. A property like Turnagain Island has a relatively small pool of potential buyers, making broad reach essential.

In the end, however, the buyer came from much closer to home.

“What I love about the sale is that at the end of the day, after all the international exposure, the buyer came from Greater Vancouver,” Stockwell said.

Patience comes with unique properties

Stockwell said the roughly three-year sales timeline wasn’t unusual for a property of this scale and uniqueness.

Rather than viewing the sale as a reflection of broader market conditions, she said pricing was one of the more difficult aspects of the listing because there were few meaningful comparables.

“It really comes back to this particular unique property,” she said. “The buyer saw the value and it sold for its market value.”

She said she’s continuing to see activity at the upper end of the recreational market on the Sunshine Coast, where privacy and lifestyle remain major draws for buyers.

“Lifestyle and privacy … those things these days are priceless,” she said.

A market of legacy properties

A bird’s eye view of Turnagain Island (listing photo).

Stockwell believes Turnagain Island is unlikely to be the last record-setting luxury sale in the region.

Many of the Sunshine Coast’s most desirable waterfront properties have remained in the same families for generations and rarely come to market.

“What’s interesting about the Sunshine Coast is that there are so many legacy properties that haven’t even hit the market yet,” she said. “They’re rare to come to market.”

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