Canada Cottage Country Real Estate – Part Two

Cottage Country Canada – Part 2

First Published Date: Jan 16, 2009

Some of the hottest and most sought-after real estate properties in Canada at the moment, both residential and commercial, are in the region just north and east of Toronto, Ontario, in what is known as cottage country or ‘the Muskokas’ to the locals. While summertime traffic can often make the trip there a brutal one, it’s well worth it once you get there to enjoy everything the region has to offer.

The area is teeming with freshwater lakes, woodlands, wildlife, hiking trails, scenic cliffs, and quaint little towns. It’s no wonder that so many people are seeking property there. It’s a virtual playground all year round and a decent sized waterfront home or cottage can often fetch well over a million dollars. The area has started attracting the who’s who of North American society and many financiers, athletes, and film actors now own or rent property there.

While many Canadian entertainers and sports stars have known about the place for years, it appears Hollywood types have finally been let in on the secret and it’s not uncommon to run into Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Martin Short, Tom Hanks or many others on the streets or at the local stores as they own cottages in the region.

A real estate boom hit the area about 10 years ago and many of the smaller lakeside cottages in the Muskoka’s  were bought up and then torn down, only to be replaced, by larger, luxury homes. However, while the area is definitely seen as a paradise by many, there are still quite a few real estate deals to be found on homes, cottages, and properties.

Lakefront lots are obviously at a premium, but there are so many of them, they can still be bought and built on quite easily. The region is also home to hundreds of private islands and thousands of kilometres of shoreline with many properties being pretty secluded. 

The regions of Haliburton, Collingwood, Huntsville, and Peterborough are also ideal for those who are looking to retire or to invest in some property. These towns are almost as popular in the middle of the winter as they are in the summer and there’s an endless supply of visitors looking to rent accommodations on a weekly basis. You can easily cover your mortgage by renting out your property.  The properties in these areas are typically less than in the Muskoka’s, but the locality is just as nice.

Some people have sold their homes in cottage country by necessity instead of choice though, as property taxes continuously seem to rise in Ontario. But there definitely wasn’t a shortage of buyers and that’s why country living is now more high-end than ever before.

There are many real estate agents in and around cottage country who can help you if you’re interested in residential and/or commercial properties in the area. There are also many websites that feature most available real estate properties. These will give you a good idea of the types of homes that are available and the price range that they come in.

It is believed the average price of a lake house in the Muskoka region was about $225,000, about 15 years ago, and according to the Muskoka and Halliburton Association of Realtors, that price is now closer to $1 million. However, there are still some hidden gems and prime real estate still available for considerably less.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the realestateexpedition.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Jan 16, 2009.