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“It’s quite surreal,” said Sotheby’s realtor Steve Mitchell. “It’s like being in the middle of a private park, and all you hear are the birds, you see nothing else yet you are 20 minutes from the city.”

And in a property market that is seized with debate over whether the city is in a bubble, Mitchell’s observation is that there has been renewed interest at the top end of the luxury market.

Photo by Sotheby's International Realty Canada / Submitted

Mitchell said the Indian Cres. listing has already sparked interest, and “it’s been offshore buyers and local buyers.”

“At the end of the day, there’s a good chance it will be a local buyer who just wants their own piece of paradise, although the value will be in the land down the road,” Mitchell said, because of existing zoning on the estate’s three separate properties.

The 2250 Indian River Cres. property stands out in a surrounding neighbourhood where sellers are listing for a quantum beneath that level with prices of just under $2 million on Panorama Drive or $1.9 million on Cliffwood Road.

In North Vancouver generally, the average price for a typical single-family home sold in the city and district is $1.7 million, compared with $3.1 million in West Vancouver and $3.6 million on Vancouver’s pricey West Side.

Photo by Sotheby's International Realty Canada / Submitted

There was a greater degree of uncertainty in the mansion trade earlier this year, according to a Sotheby’s-commissioned report, due to B.C.’s 15-per-cent foreign buyers tax and a general slowdown in the market.

However, Mitchell said he has observed a marked increase in sales over the last six months.