The Royal LePage 2024 Spring Recreational Property Report includes national and regional price data and insights from experts in 50 recreational real estate markets across the country.
“Across the nation there was a sizable rise in demand for all types of housing during the pandemic, but nothing could match the ‘gold rush fever’ that occurred in recreational property markets,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage. “With city offices closed and the wide availability of high-speed internet allowing people to take video meetings on lakefronts and mountain tops, excess demand pushed recreational property prices to unprecedented heights.
“Inflation reared its ugly head, interest rates soared and the economic downturn that followed pushed cottage, cabin and chalet prices off those pandemic peaks, yet the fundamental demand for recreational living has not abated. We believe that this market segment will see a resurgence of activity in 2024,” continued Soper.
Key highlights from the national release include:
- The median price of a single-family home in Canada’s recreational regions is forecast to increase 5.0% in 2024 to $678,930, compared to 2023, as a boost in consumer confidence will bring sidelined buyers back to the market
- All of Canada’s provincial recreational markets expected to see an increase in single-family home prices in 2024, with Ontario forecast to see the highest level of price appreciation at 8.0%
- The weighted median price of a single-family home in Canada’s recreational property market decreased modestly by 1.0% year over year to $646,600 in 2023
- Despite a modest decrease over the past year, the national weighted median single-family home price in Canada’s recreational real estate market remains 59% above 2019 levels
- Nationally, the weighted median price of a single-family waterfront and condominium property decreased 7.9% and 1.5% year over year, respectively, in 2023
- Condominiums in Atlantic Canada’s recreational property market recorded the highest provincial year-over-year weighted median price appreciation in 2023, rising 16.9%
- 41% of recreational property market experts across the country reported lower inventory than last year in their respective regions
