Retirees are driving recreational property prices upward
The average price of recreational real estate across Canada saw a significant 13% year-over-year increase in June 2018, according to a new survey by RE/MAX.
The report pointed at sustained demand among Canada’s elderly as the driving reason for the increase in value of this property type, which covers assets like waterfront, non-waterfront, water access, and ski-in properties.
RE/MAX also noted that another major contributor to price increases is the growing phenomenon of retirees settling down on their already purchased recreational properties.
“Combined with the fact that Canada’s senior population is the largest it has ever been, and many of these retirees are using recreational properties as retirement properties, pricing has increased across the majority of markets,” RE/MAX Integra Ontario-Atlantic Canada Region executive VP and regional director Christopher Alexander told the Financial Post.
Read more: Value of B.C.’s recreational property to drop this year – Royal LePage
Nearly one-fifth of the survey’s respondents indicated that they are using their recreational properties as their retirement homes, while one-third stated that their purchases are meant as investments.
“A lot of them are cashing in and buying recreational properties or they’re refinancing and just taking some equity to do it or their straight up selling their urban home and moving into recreations markets full time,” Alexander said.
According to the RE/MAX survey, the influence of retirees on Canada’s recreational market has only strengthened in time. As of 2018, retirees accounted for 91% of activity in the segment, compared to the 55% proportion last year.
