One of the hottest real estate offers in Halifax is slightly larger than a closet and six feet below ground. Fairview Lawn Cemetery, home to 121 victims of the Titanic disaster, is offering more than a thousand plots.
The sale begins Saturday, but potential buyers like 76-year-old Steven Metledge have already spent time scouting the best locations.
"When you're young, you never think about it," he told CTV Atlantic. "But when you get old, you start to think about the last house you can buy."
Metledge said he has always bought property close to the road, and hopes to do the same with a plot in Fairview.
The average price for a plot is nearly $1,400, with a limit of four per family.
Fairview currently has 2,300 plots and will expand to make a further 1,260 available. An advertisement was placed in local newspapers five days ago, and supervisor Gary Musolino said he's answered a steady stream of calls from interested buyers.
"It just seems like older baby boomers," he said. "They've lived in Halifax for 30 or 40 years and they want to be buried in Halifax, so their kids can come and visit. They feel if they go outside (the city), their kids won't come as often."
The Halifax Regional Municipality operates the non-denominational cemetery.
Spokesperson John O'Brien said that there was high demand the last time the cemetery opened lots, two years ago. Buyers lined up at the door at 1 a.m. the day before the sale.
"About 118 lots sold out in five hours," he said.
With a report by CTV Atlantic's Lindsey Deluce in Halifax
