Canmore pushes Alberta to highest recreational property prices in Canada
Alberta's recreational properties are in high demand coming out of the pandemic with some of the more affordable lakeside options in Canada, but the province boasts the highest average price in Canada thanks to one mountain community: Canmore.
That's a key finding of the Royal Lepage recreational property forecast released earlier this spring, which found the average price of a single-family detached home in Alberta recreational communities reached $1,074,000 last year, an increase of almost 32 per cent from 2020.
“When you think about the average home price in Alberta, a rec property sells for two-and-a-half times that value,” says Phil Soper, president of Royal Lepage Canada. “That's pretty significant.” Recent data from the Realtors Association of Edmonton shows the average price of a single-family detached home was more than $500,000 with the average price for all residential at more than $400,000.
While Alberta has the highest average price, even higher than British Columbia at $919,000, Canmore's market skews the view of the overall market because its price for a single-family detached home was closing in on $1.4 million at the end of 2021, an increase of almost 33 per cent, year over year.
In contrast, other recreational communities in Alberta have significantly lower average prices.
The three other communities highlighted in the report included popular destinations for Edmonton buyers. These are Pigeon Lake, Wabamun Lake and Lac Ste. Anne.
Average prices for a single-family detached home ranged between $328,000 in Lac Ste. Anne to $465,000 in Pigeon Lake.
Tom Shearer, broker and owner of Royal Lepage Noralta Real Estate, says Canmore and Sylvan Lake — which was not included in the report — drive the average prices in Alberta and are typically favoured by Calgary buyers.
“Edmonton rec buyers are willing to drive,” he says, adding many do buy in Canmore.
But the three lake communities in the report are Edmonton favourites, he adds.
“These areas are within one hour of Edmonton and provide a great escape locally,” Shearer says. “There is a limited supply of property in these areas, which keeps pricing in the mid- to upper range.”
As the Royal Lepage study highlights, lakefront property is in high demand, commanding higher price points than other homes in these communities.
A single-family detached lakefront home in Wabamun Lake averaged $889,000 at the end of 2021, up about 17 per cent from 2020, the report shows.
Pigeon Lake waterfront properties averaged $680,000, an increase of more than 20 per cent, while Lac Ste. Anne waterfront homes saw the fastest year-overyear growth at more than 27 per cent reaching $600,000.
Soper says driving demand in these communities are the same factors seen across Canada.
“If you look at the two largest demographic cohorts in the country, there are millennials and baby boomers.”
Many near or early retirees are empty nesters and seeking to buy recreational properties where they will spend at least the warmer months of the year, he adds.
Millennials “are now entering their 40s, settled into their principal residences, and so are increasingly looking to buy recreational properties.”
Soper further adds the workfrom-home movement has boosted demand as more professionals are able to leverage high-speed internet in many of these communities to work from anywhere.
“Even in mid-2022 as offices open up, most employers with knowledge industry workers are offering a hybrid work model.”
When you think about the average home price in Alberta, a rec property sells for twoand-a-half times that value.