Real estate sales at Big White Resort are so brisk that even the builders can't keep up.

Not that they aren't trying with an estimated $40 Million worth of construction this summer.

More than 100 new residential units will increase the total number of beds at the resort east of Kelowna to 11,000.

Housing prices at Big White have taken a quantum leap, outgrowing much of the Interior pocketbook, but selling well internationally particularly in the U.S. says Steve Hyndman, one of three owners of Mountain Realty.

A luxury townhouse or chalet for $220,000 - $250,000 Cdn represents a bargain for U.S. customers who compare it to prices of $400,000 Cdn for a 1,000-square-foot unit at Sun Valley, Idaho.

The $400,000 townhouses in the Treetops at Big White are comparable in quality and square footage to $875,000 to $1.2-million US townhouses at Telluride in Colorado.

Big White does a lot of marketing at the London (England) Ski Show, the biggest ski show in the world, says Hyndman.

Europe is so expensive that itô cheaper for the British to fly to Canada. The skiing is better, there are shorter lineups, we have great food and their pound goes further. They also love the lack of pretentiousness here, he said. And culturally, the British are closer to Canada than Europe.

The Americans and the Brits can't believe how friendly Big White and Canadians are. They constantly comment on it.ÿ/p>

"It has been wild since the beginning of August, agrees Mountain Realty co-owner and agent Jim Henry, who has overseen the company phenomenal growth during the past seven years.

The third partner, Peter MacLeod, brought several developers to Snow Pine Estates, including retired logger Doug Dutz, who is building a six-plex.

The big boom started six years ago when Horizon airline launched regular Seattle-Kelowna flights. Washington State ski hills don't offer on-mountain accommodation with ski-in, ski-out access so they started checking out nearby B.C. resorts.

Do far the market has absorbed almost everything. The bulk of it is sold during the first ski season after it is built, said Hydman.

The rest has been sold during the following season which has produced a shortage of developable land.

Ue definitely have a lot crunch right now. Land is tight which will tighten up the supply of units, said Hydman.

White Forest Estates is already close to half-filled with buildings. The land was all sold in three or four months last year.

The second phase of Snow Pine Estates was sold out in a couple of months and construction immediately got underway on many lots. The rest of the lots will be built out next summer as required by Big White which discourages buying an empty lot for later resale.

As a result, development of the Gondola Woods Estates subdivision, located in Happy Valley next to Big White Road, is underway. The majority are duplex lots. The road is roughed in but there are no services yet. Lots go on the market in the early spring of 2003.

Feathertop Estates, consisting of 25 - 30 single-family lots, will go in between the Bullet and Black Forest chairs. These high-end lots will all face the ski run.

xhis is almost new territory for Big White, attracting a new level of buyer like corporate CEOs and developers. We`e not talking $89,000 lots here but $1-million homes. It's like a lakeshore lot.

Several developers have bought a residence at Big White and once they saw the extent of development, they too joined the building boom.

"It has a snowball effect. The more you sell, the more you sell, said Hyndman.

Big White has already broken the $1-million barrier in White Forest Estates and so-called trophy condos in the $300,000 to $500,000 range are available in the Stonebridge development.

Buyers enjoy their new purchase by using it themselves and loaning it to clients to use so they can write it off. There aren any million-dollar properties like that at Silver Star Mountain Resort yet.

Dilver Star is where Big White was 10 years ago. They don't have any $400,000 townhouses simply because they haven't built any, he said.

They don't have the same range of condominiums and chalets as Big White. Their price range is $120,000 to $300,000.