Photo: The Canadian Press

David Repa recalls the shock he felt sitting down at a bank after selling his Vancouver business in 2013 and realizing for the first time how much of "a joke" his prospects were of owning a home in the city.

"Oh, my God. I'm not even close," Repa remembers thinking at the time.

Three years later, the man who founded a non-profit electronics-recycling centre and a computer-repair business is living in a spacious home he owns in Powell River. The ocean is a block away and the sound of a creek running through his backyard can be heard from the front steps.

As soaring real estate prices expand up B.C.'s south coast, Powell River has become a refuge for residents of Greater Vancouver who want to make home ownership a reality. The community of about 13,000, located two ferry rides from the Lower Mainland, is also attracting people interested in living somewhere that will allow them to afford the lifestyle they want to lead.

Neil Frost, president of the region's real estate board, said he's seen a wave of young people driven out of areas surrounding Metro Vancouver, from Hope to Squamish.

Non-residents have made up about 50 per cent of the buyers in Powell River over the past couple years, said Frost. Prices have grown about 20 per cent, he added, far lower than the surging values in and around Metro Vancouver.

Figures from the B.C. Real Estate Association show Powell River led the province in January for both the number and total value of residential sales, compared with the same period last year. Residential sales jumped 82 per cent to $6.3 million.

"The people in Squamish really felt the pinch," Frost said. "So many times I heard the story, 'Hey, Neil. This was the year I was going to buy in Squamish. House prices went from $450,000 to $750,000. … I can't do it. I can't. So show me something in Powell River.'"