Cottage prices near Ottawa to jump significantly in 2022: report

A Royal LePage 'For Sale' sign outside of a home (supplied)

A new report suggests the price of a lakeside or mountaintop cottage is going to jump significantly this year, following a similar trend from last year.

Royal LePage is forecasting a double-digit gain in the national recreational house price in 2022.

“The factors challenging Canada’s residential real estate market – chronic low supply and growing demand – are amplified in the recreational property segment,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage in a news release. “Demand for recreational properties continues to vastly outstrip inventory in many cottage regions across the country. Waterfront and mountaintop locations near cities are limited by nature, even in a vast land like Canada, forcing buyers into multiple-offer scenarios. Even more than in urban regions, it is vital that buyers and sellers employ the services of a local agent who has recreational market expertise.”

Prices in Quebec, while rising, remain well below those in Ontario.

According to Royal LePage, prices in Quebec are expected to jump 15 per cent in 2022, while those in Ontario are expected to go up 13 per cent on average. The report says the median price for a single-family cottage in Quebec could rise to more than $356,000 in 2022, while cottages in Ontario could see median prices around $738,000.

This follows major price jumps in 2021. Recreational property prices rose 24.5 per cent on average in Quebec last year, and went up 34.6 per cent in Ontario. Waterfront properties jumped by 26.4 per cent in Quebec and 31.8 per cent in Ontario last year.

Regions near Ottawa see big jumps in 2021

Statistics provided by Royal LePage show some significant jumps in home prices in cottage country regions in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

The biggest jump came in Land O' Lakes, about an hour north of Kingston. Prices jumped 60.7 per cent on average in 2021, to $723,000.

In Rideau Lakes, house prices rose 25.6 per cent to $609,000 in 2021, while waterfront properties jumped 17 per cent to $614,000. Peterborough and the Kawarthas saw a 44 per cent spike in home prices in 2021, going from $450,000 to $650,000. A waterfront property in the region cost $889,000 last year, up 28.8 per cent.

In the Papineau region of Quebec, which includes Thurso and Montebello, single-family homes and waterfront homes each jumped about 34 per cent, to $255,000 and $350,000, respectively.

Further east in the Argenteuil region, the price of a waterfront cottage was nearly $400,000 in 2021, up 26 per cent over 2020 prices. The price of a non-waterfront property went up 31.4 per cent to $276,000.

The most expensive region in Ontario for a recreational property was southern Georgian Bay, which saw a median price of $881,000 in 2021, a 27.5 per cent jump from 2020 levels. For waterfront properties, a cottage in the Orillia are will set you back nearly $1.2 million, up a staggering 51 per cent, outpacing the price in the Muskoka area, which also saw waterfront prices rise above $1 million last year.

In Quebec, the Bromont region, east of Montreal, had the most expensive recreational home price in 2021 at $625,000, up 56.3 per cent over 2020. The priciest waterfront properties can be found in the Magog area, where prices reached $675,000 in 2021, up 20.8 per cent.

Part of the reason for the rise in prices, Royal LePage said, is the entry of a large number of Baby Boomers into the recreational home market.

According to the 2021 Royal LePage Boomer Survey conducted last year, 37 per cent of boomers in Ontario said they were considering purchasing a primary residence within the next five years. Of them, 56 per cent said they were considering buying in a rural or recreational region, which could result in up to approximately 729,000 people having entered the recreational real estate market within the five-year period. Twenty-nine per cent of boomers in Quebec said they were considering purchasing a primary residence within the next five years. Of them, 62 per cent said they were considering buying in a rural or recreational region, which could result in up to approximately 400,000 people having entered the market.