Royal LePage Summer 2009 Recreational Property Report

As one of Canada's leading authorities on cottage and recreational properties, Royal LePage have just released the summer 2009 edition of their Recreational Property Report.
Given the uncertainty of our economy, significant layoffs particularly in the auto sector and tighter lending conditions, this edition of the report was approached with a degree of caution, fearing that Canadians would be shying away from purchasing a secondary property. Surprisingly, many Canadians (64%) still maintain their belief that a cottage or other property purchased for recreational use is still a very good investment. Of these, 55% said they would be willing to make significant financial sacrifices in order to fulfil their desire of owning a summer cottage, ski chalet/condo or other form of recreational property.
The survey also found that 89% of Canadians think a cottage is a great place for family to gather, and 86% think a cottage is a great way to escape the city and today's hectic, stress-filled lifestyle. Having grown up enjoying the cottage lifestyle and now as a waterfront owner myself, I can attest to this belief. Is it costly to own and maintain a second property? To some degree it certainly is but so are a lot of life's other pleasures ie: my costs are less than some annual golf course dues etc. The cost of ownership seems to dissipate once you arrive at your particular getaway when those costs are weighed against the enjoyment such ownership delivers. That continues to be one of the main drivers that propels the ongoing sale of Collingwood area real estate. Seldom do my recreational buyers regret their purchase and find that they are not using the place and want to sell. Typically it's the other way around wherein after a year or so they are using the place so much, they are ready to move up to something larger.
If you are contemplating purchasing a recreational property in 2009, the Royal Lepage Recreational Property Report can be a big help in determining what and where is the best place for you to buy and the relative costs. For further information on local market conditions and or to ascertain where to find the best values in the Georgian Triangle, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Great Lakes Water Level Update

This past week members of the International Upper Great Lakes Study group held public meetings in Collingwood and simultaneously in Mequon, Wisconsin for the purpose of providing an update regarding the fluctuating water levels in the upper Great Lakes.
Between living in Collingwood and owning a cottage on Manitoulin Island, this marks the 56th summer that I have spent time on Georgian Bay and Lake Huron . During this time frame I have seen it all from the record low water levels of the mid 1960's when I was a kid to several years in the late 1980's when there was no shoreline at all in some areas due to abnormally high water levels. It should be noted that Lakes Michigan and Huron and the only two of the five Great Lakes that do not have a mechanism to control the outflow of water which exits at will down the St. Clair River.
During the past two years over 100 scientists in Canada and the U.S have been studying the St. Clair River system between Lakes Michigan-Huron to Lake Erie. Many people myself included have held the belief that the deepening of the St. Clair River stemming from dredging in 1963 to accommodate larger freighters through the St. Lawrence Seaway and subsequent erosion of the river bed has increased the outflow of water thus depleting the levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron which of course includes Georgian Bay. Preliminary results from these studies tends to downplay the increased flow rate of the St. Clair River which has raised the ire of many including the Georgian Bay Association which commissioned its own study known as the Baird Report.

Current water levels in Lakes Michigan, Huron and Georgian Bay are up approximately 9" over last year which is encouraging. According to the most recent studies, the St Clair riverbed has been stable with no further evidence of erosion resulting in no increased outflow from these bodies of water since 2000. It was also emphasized last week, that the area surrounding Georgian Bay has experienced a significant amount of glacial isostatic adjustment which is the rebounding of the earth's crust after the melting of the glaciers that covered this area some 10,000 years ago. In essence, the land surrounding Georgian Bay has risen some 4.3 inches since 1963 so it's not so much a matter of the water going down as the land is going up. That's fine but does not explain where the other 30+ inches of water has disappeared to since the late 1980's. Many of those that attended the meeting in Collingwood, were like myself, waterfront property owners. Many expressed their frustration with the fact that there appears to be a classic example of paralysis by analysis going on with countless studies, many of which contradict each other and no action. While the current studies pertaining to the St. Clair River are to be finalized and submitted by October of this year, their position at the present time is that no remedial action should be taken on the St. Clair River at this time. I suspect it will be many years and perhaps not even in many of our lifetimes before any action is taken to control the outflow of water from Lakes Michigan-Huron via the St. Clair River. As such we will no doubt see many years of continued water level fluctuations and perhaps to chronically low levels before action is taken to protect these critical fresh-water resources.

June Real Estate Sales Exceed Prior Year

Following two months of modest yet steady improvement through April and May, area real estate sales in the month of June rebounded significantly. Monthly unit sales reported through the MLS® system of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board increased 16% in June versus the same month last year. A total of 206 sales were reported for the month as compared to 177 in June 2008. Of note, sales activity at the upper end of the market has continued to show strong gains. In June, 15 sales were reported between $400,000 and $500,000 whereas in June 2008 there were only 8. In addition, 2 sales were made in June over $1 million compared to none in June 2008, bringing the total of $1 million+ sales for the year to 6 versus 4 in the first 6 months of 2008.

Year-to-date sales to the end of June reflect a 19% drop from the same period last year however the overall trend as reflected in the accompanying graph shows a steady improvement. The number of new listings coming onto the market has declined considerably in recent months. New listings year-to-date total 3,055 properties, a decline of 5% over last year. Expired listings however continue to increase, up 31% of the first 6 months of 2008. The increase in the number of expired listings coincides with the annual year-to-date shortfall in sales although many properties remain over-priced relative to current market values.