Ottawa s ultra luxury housing market is blooming like the tulips this spring, with a significant increase in the number of homes sold worth more than $2 million.
Posted: May 19, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: May 19
A load of eastern cedar lumber from a sawmill in Bouchette, Que., is ready to be turned into a new deck. Lumber isn t the only building material skyrocketing in price.(Stu Mills/CBC)
From homebuilders to backyard renovators, many Canadians have been feeling the impact of the price of lumber and other materials doubling or tripling during the pandemic.
Roy Nandram knows all too well.
The builder and former president of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association has been watching his material costs spike on a nine-home development in the Experimental Farm area.
The region’s cottage real estate market remains hotter than a flaming marshmallow as strong demand but dwindling supply continues to cause the average price of recreational properties to climb in Eastern Ontario and West Quebec.
Top realtors with extensive experience in selling country retreats say the current cottage craze is unprecedented, pandemic influenced and showing no signs of cooling off.
“It started Aug. 1 of last year and continued into this year,” says Scott Burns, owner of Rideau Realty Ltd., a small brokerage that s been in his family for years, located in the village of Portland on Big Rideau Lake. “It hasn’t slowed down at all.”