The San Juan Islands are a string of evergreen jewels scattered across Washington's Puget Sound, as local Realtors describe them.

"Sheltered by the Olympic Mountains to the southwest and Vancouver Island to the west," say Realtors Jim and Val Murrey, "the San Juans sit in a rain shadow, receiving an average of 29" a year. The relatively mild year-around climate is ideal for such outdoor endeavors as hiking, kayaking, biking, boating, fishing and wildlife watching. Depending on the season, you might spot soaring eagles, sea birds, nesting harbor seals and pups, and orca or minke whales."

Explain the Murreys, "The real estate market in the San Juan Islands, serviced by the Washington State Ferry System, San Juan, Orcas, Lopez and Shaw, varies from one island to the next. Of those, San Juan Island and Orcas Island are the county's two most populous but have very different real estate markets. Even though smaller in size than Orcas Island, San Juan Island is the most populated, with approximately 6850. Orcas has a population of approximately 4500, Lopez has approximately 2100 and Shaw has less than 300. This difference is reflected in the sales volume and number of transactions for each island."

The following is provided by the Murrays:

The median home price in the San Juans has increased from $239,500 at the end of 2001 to $260,000 for 2002, but has not rebounded to the $349,000 reported in January of 2001.

SAN JUAN ISLAND

Year-end figures for San Juan Island show that 352 property sales took place in 2002, totaling approximately $103 million. These figures are a significant increase over sales on San Juan Island in 2001, which totaled approximately $87 million for some 297 transactions.

ORCAS ISLAND

On Orcas, sales in 2002 increased somewhat over figures 2001, with an approximate total of $74.3 million in 2002, representing 267 transactions, versus $45.6 million and 186 transactions in 2001. However, sales figures for 2002 are somewhat skewed by one $11.1 million property sale.

On Orcas, sales of high-end properties—those that sold for $500,000 or more—rebounded during the second half of 2002, for a total of 20 transactions. In 2001, sales of high-end properties were virtually nonexistent. There were about 20 such sales in 2000 and double that amount in 1998 and 1999.

Sales of more moderately priced homes and land were strong throughout the entire year. Total sales increased in the second and third quarters, then dropped slightly in the fourth quarter.

LOPEZ AND SHAW ISLANDS

Lopez Island saw a total of 81 real estate transactions in 2002, totaling approximately $17.2 million, down from 2001’s figures of 90 transactions totaling approximately $19.6 million.

On Shaw Island, while the number of transactions increased from only eight in 2001 to 12 in 2002, total dollar volume actually declined from approximately $3.5 million in 2001 to $2.6 million in 2002.

Lopez and Shaw island sales have declined compared to the previous two years, in part because of low inventory and a dramatic rise in prices in recent years.

"We believe the downturn in the stock market and the dot-com bust are contributing factors to the San Juan Islands real estate picture," advise the Murrays."This a very much a second home market and some prospective buyers may lack the money to buy real estate. That said, other investors are cutting their losses and diversifying, as evidenced by strong lower-end home and raw land sales throughout the year, and the recovery of the high-end home market during the second half of 2002. Falling interest rates and the roller-coaster stock market have second-home prices at a record high, driven in large part by baby boomers thinking about retiring to their own piece of the beach. Plus, with environmental rules getting stricter, people worry that if they don't get their place now, they never will. We believe as the economy recovers and more investors look to real estate, the San Juan Islands real estate market will heat up considerably."

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Published: January 16, 2003

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