Ocean lure: Why doesn't Washington's coast have even more homeowners?

OCEAN SHORES — So it's summertime — finally — and you're thinking that just maybe you'd like to own a place on the ocean. Goodbye freeway traffic, hello bracing surf!

Let's talk about that.

Maple Valley's Gary and Sandy Hines have. Their dream retirement home is near beachfront here and just days from being finished.

Virginia and John Stewart of Kent also have talked about it ... and continue to do so as they try to sell their waterfront Ocean Shores getaway. "There isn't any place you want to be other than the ocean when the weather is nice," she sighs.

But the truth is, Washington's coast, from Ocean Shores north to Moclips, is surprisingly unpopulated given the primal lure of the sea and the coastline's rugged beauty. Unlike much of California, Florida or the Northeast, where buyers fight to own oceanfront homes costing well into the millions, buyers here can easily snap up an oceanfront getaway for $125,000 to $250,000. And we're not talking a worn-out cabin, either.

Alternately, Ocean Shores waterfront lots can be had for $60,000 or so.

And guess who's buying these properties: mostly people from the Seattle/Tacoma area, for whom the drive down is three hours or less.

"They want out of the rat race," reports Barbara Locke, whose Ocean Shores firm, Locke Construction, does steady business housing them. "What everyone tells me is they're tired of the traffic."

This stretch of coast is in Grays Harbor, a once-mighty timber and fishing county that in recent years has struggled with hard economic times. North of Moclips is the Quinault Indian Reservation. The miles from Moclips south are dotted with tiny beachfront towns — Pacific Beach, Copalis Beach, Ocean City — strung like pearls along a winding, forested highway that occasionally reveals exquisite ocean views. Still, boarded-up businesses attest to better days gone by. Only in Ocean Shores, a flat, six-mile-long spit of land with a full-time population of 3,900, is development pronounced. There's the new Quinault Beach Resort and Casino, the new multiplex movie theater, the go-cart track, golf course, strip-mall shopping and dining.

Ocean Shores also has 1,000-plus motel rooms, a library, seven churches and a thriving convention center that hosts kite festivals, chain-saw woodcarving contests, even a tow-truck exhibition. As a result, the weekend population can swell to 10,000 or more.

Until the late 1950s, when a group of investors envisioned a grand resort community to be named Ocean Shores, the area was an isolated cattle ranch. Then development — fueled by huge amounts of hype — began.

Utilizing the area's abundant fresh-water sources, developers dredged out Duck Lake and a web of canals. This gave Ocean Shores 23 miles of lake and canal frontage, on top of its six miles of ocean coastline and 12 miles along Grays Harbor Bay. Early estimates were that 80 percent of the town's lots would be waterfront of one sort or another.

Soon the land rush was on. The first lots sold for $1,700 to $10,600 on contract, sometimes at the rate of 150 a month to Seattleites convinced that Ocean Shores, an easy 132-mile drive away, was positioned to quickly become the Northwest's premier playground.

It was not to be.

In 1970 the development company went bankrupt, leaving property owners with only empty promises instead of completed roads and utilities. Two years later, 20 percent of property owners were in default, and investors were offering as little as $50 to take their real-estate contracts off their hands.

But no matter what, nobody could roll up the beach, so the essential lure remains.

Today Ocean Shores has clearly rebounded, but because it's such a new city it's still small. The town counts 3,200 private dwellings; most are houses built from the '70s onward, with a few condominiums thrown in (some are time shares). About a third of these are seasonal or recreational homes; the rest are full-time residences.

Over the 1990s, the town's resident population grew 83 percent. Utilities, including a sewer system, went in and that induced folks like Gary and Sandy Hines to finally build their dream home. Seventeen years ago, when they bought their lot across the street from the beach, they talked the seller down from $6,500 to $5,000 because the lot lacked even electricity.

This couple's situation is typical of several trends that drive Ocean Shores real estate.

First, they're older. Anchor Savings Bank's Bob Clark says his typical new mortgage customers are Seattle-area residents either in their 50s and planning for retirement or in their 60s and already there.

Gary Hines is 62 and recently hung up his hat after 31 years with Boeing; he was a quality-assurance manager. Sandy Hines, 60, is a bookkeeper nearing retirement.

According to the most recent U.S. Census, the majority of residents are over 35, with the largest single group — 18 percent of the population — between 65 and 74. Some 92 percent are white.

The Hineses are also typical in that they bought their lot, one of about 12,000, many years before building. Indeed, vacant lots are almost as common as seagrass at Ocean Shores, but that doesn't mean they're available.

Thorn Ward, who owns the local John L. Scott real estate office, says homeowners typically get involved first as lot owners. "Buying a house is a commitment you can't take lightly. But they can buy a lot for $1,000 down and $100 a month."

This gives them a place to park their camper (for up to 90 days per year) and dream about the home they'll someday build. Today ocean or bayfront lots can be had for about $60,000, with lake lots somewhat cheaper. Inland parcels run as low as $6,000.

The Hineses also typify another trend noted by Clark. He says many mortgages he writes go to stock-shocked folks, who've watched the market decline for 27 months and are seeking a good investment.

And indeed, Ocean Shores property may be that. In the last four years, homes in this town have appreciated 24 percent — 1 percent more than King County residences — while the rest of Grays Harbor County has coasted to a modest 7.5 percent, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Also according to the Multiple Listing Service, the current average price of Ocean Shores homes is $113,000, with two bedrooms averaging a modest $84,000.

The Hineses were "just going to build a summer cabin," says Gary. "But our 401(k) was going down, down, down," says Sandy, "so we decided to put our money in real estate."

Their new home, customized from plans just for them, is a 1,600-square-foot chalet with a second-floor ocean view. (Numerous oceanfront homes here have water views only from the upper floors; building regulations mandate a minimum of 250 to 450 feet from the shoreline, thus placing them behind dunes. Bayfront homes, however, are truly waterfront.)

In opting for new construction, the Hineses also typify another Ocean Shores trend.

"Usually you can build something new for almost the same as you can buy one that's been there for a while, and everything is updated," says builder Locke. "The windows are better, the roofing is better, the energy code is better. They're just better-built homes than they were several years ago."

Locke estimates the average construction cost per square foot ranges from $70 to $100, depending on how customized the home is. And make no mistake about it, recently built homes are just that. No jerry-built cabins these, they're full-service residences with multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, often skylights, sometimes jetted tubs, even an occasional swimming pool or elevator.

Those within Ocean Shores proper have cable television and high-speed Internet access. Almost all have electric heat; natural gas isn't available.

Although the Hineses also had a vacation place at Moses Lake, they say Ocean Shores easily won out for retirement.

"We like the town, and we've always loved the beach," says Gary Hines, who also mentions the amenity-rich community club available to homeowners. "It doesn't matter what's on our minds. If something's bad, you spend about half an hour on the beach and it all goes away."

Indeed, the couple likes the area so much they've often visited in winter. "We just love the winter storms," he says. "It doesn't matter whether it's snowing or blowing."

Snow is rare, but wind is a near constant, followed in short order by clouds and rain. Lots of rain.

Seattleites grumble that November and December are gruesome because they deliver a combined 11 inches of precipitation. Ocean Shores gets twice that in those two months alone, and no matter the month, it never really warms up.

In July and August, Seattle enjoys average highs of 75 degrees. Ocean Shores can boast only 67 windy degrees.

"There are only two seasons — the wet and cloudy one and the dry and cloudy one," notes National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Burke. He says the ocean temperature — 50s in the winter, 60s in the summer — controls the air temperature, making both about the same. "Plus the entire Pacific is covered with marine clouds in the summer," and winter might deliver gale-force winds about twice a week.

Before folks put down roots, they should consider whether they can tolerate the climate. "That's probably the big issue," says Gary Hines.

Virginia and John Stewart aren't put off by the weather. But the Kent retirees have decided for other reasons that Ocean Shores won't become their permanent home. Thus they put their two-bedroom waterfront getaway of five years on the market in April. The price: $169,000.

"We see all the whales, the bird life, deer run through our yard," says Virginia Stewart, who says she and her husband "absolutely love being down there." Nevertheless, the Stewarts have decided Ocean Shores is, in her words, "a little bit too isolated," particularly since the town's only physician left recently, plus their grandkids no longer relish the trek out there.

As a result, "we don't use it that much," she admits. Still, every time they visit, they are reminded of why, after searching the entire Washington coastline, they chose this beach hamlet.

The people are friendly. The views, of the water, Mount Rainier, the Olympics, are glorious.

And best of all, "the prices are so cheap compared to what you pay up here (King County) for waterfront," she says.

Upon reflection, she makes a confession: "We don't want to sell that bad."

So maybe Ocean Shores will keep the Stewarts after all.

Elizabeth Rhodes: erhodes@seattletimes.com.