Recreational properties could see a big dip in price this Year

What goes up, must come down! So they say. According to LePage, Canadian recreational homes or better known as Cottages in Canada could see a big dip after Covid-19 pandemic all time high.

According to the report, which analyzed data from Canada’s largest real estate company, prices for a single-family recreational property in Canada will fall 4.5 percent in 2023, to $592,005 from $619,900 in 2022.

According to the report, the biggest price drops will be seen in Ontario, where prices are expected to fall by 5%, and Quebec, where prices are expected to fall by 8%. Meanwhile, in the west, prices are only expected to fall two per cent in B.C. and rise slightly by 0.5 per cent in Alberta.

During the pandemic, many Canadians have invested into out of the city properties, which has contributed to the skyrocketing price increase. Now that the pandemic is over and inflation pushes one or the other cottage owner to sell, prices are already dropping. Another contributor of price drop in Ontario and Quebec and gain in Alberta is the movement of population through Canadian provinces and territories. As Ontario and Quebec becomes more unaffordable, Canadians choose to relocate to more budget friendly places.

Prices shot up 11.7 per cent year-over-year in 2022 for a single-family recreational home, according to the report, thanks to increased demand.

Price drop could go to pre pandemic prices in some areas as more properties go on sale during spring and summer period. While buyers will return to City market, many recreational home seller will most likely sell at bargain prices. Multiple offers will most likely be the thing of the past and recreational home buyers will be tempted to present bargain offers.

Cottage rental prices unaffordable for many Canadians

COVID-19 pandemic rush into more open space has increased rental prices as well in the past years. An increase many Canadian families can’t afford any longer. Cottage country has been a popular destination for many. Renting a cottage, a small fishing boat and canoe was the thing to do from spring to fall, yet, this outdoor vacation becomes unreachable for many Canadian families.

Pandemic and post pandemic high demand, and even higher prices, has left that experience out of reach for many, to the point that people may opt to stray farther afield when they want to get away. As cottage vacations decline in 2022 and 2023 another industry prospers, camping!

2022 was the year for camping

Some Ontario residents for instance changed their vacation strategies, a more affordable option that offers the exploration of the great outdoors after a year of lockdowns and rising cottage rental prices have booked out camp sites to 100 per cent volume. Campsites in Ontario have become hot commodities. 2022 was the year of camping, the lucky ones who could find a spot in one of the popular places certainly will wish that 2023 will not be overbooked. To accommodate the influx of campers, Ontario Parks has announced that it will be limiting the number of nights an individual can book a campsite at its provincial parks during summer months.

Campers could previously book sites for up to 23 days, but beginning in 2023, Ontario Parks will limit the maximum stay in its most popular places to seven or 14 nights, depending on the park.

The restriction will be in place from July 1 through the Saturday of the Labor Day long weekend, and will not apply to backcountry camping or roofed lodgings, only campground campsites.

More balanced Canadian outdoor property prices could also be beneficial to campers as the popular places could be easier to book.