After warming up over the past year, Canmore recreational property prices will rise even further over the next 12 months, according to a new report from Royal LePage.

The median price of a detached single-family home jumped 4.4 percent in the first nine months of this year to $1.67 million, and is expected to rise another 3.5 percent over the next 12 months, according to Royal LePage’s 2024 Winter Recreational Properties Report. . The report also reveals that the price of standard condos in the city increased by 9.8 percent during the same period, reaching $765,000.

Canmore’s thriving real estate market saw the increase even as the report found housing prices for winter recreation properties in British Columbia cities including Whistler and Sun Peaks fell last year . For the six British Columbia cities included in the report, the median price of a single-family detached home and a standard condo both fell by 2.6 per cent.

Prices in Canmore are being pushed up by two main factors, high demand and low supply, influenced by the town’s limited territory, according to Royal LePage Solutions associate broker Brad Hawker.

“We’re between Bow Valley Provincial Park and Banff National Park and the mountains on either side, so a very limited land base and that’s where the markets are,” Hawker said.

He added that the high demand for recreational properties in Canmore is driven by residents of Calgary, Edmonton and other Alberta communities, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, the region has also seen more demand. interest from the people of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

Hawker noted that community efforts to attract more pedestrians, becoming more walkable and bikeable with lower speed limits for motorists and an improved trail system, have helped encourage new rental projects in the short term.

He predicts more local buyers will move into the market in the first half of 2025, especially if interest rates fall by mid-year.

Canmore struggles with rising house prices

Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert told CBC News that while the rise in recreational property prices in the city is staggering, it doesn’t surprise him.

He noted that the median value of a single-family home in Canmore is currently almost $1.4 million, and the median value of all residential properties in the city is just over $1 million. dollars.

“The high cost of land here and the high cost of housing is a huge problem for our community,” Krausert said. “Clearly, the average city worker … cannot afford such prices.”

The mayor added that it has become increasingly difficult to attract and retain employees due to the high cost of housing in the city, saying there is a high demand for affordable housing as well as affordable rental properties .

“We are taking bold steps to increase the number and pace of non-market housing, both owned and rental, that we will build over the next several years,” Krausert said.

“And we also require that every resident be part of the solution, either by housing a primary resident or paying higher taxes to fund affordable housing.”

Krausert said non-market housing is not subsidized housing, but rather housing that does not appreciate based on market forces and will remain affordable long after it is built.

He added that Canmore has approved area structure plans and specific developments that, over the next five to 10 years, are expected to produce more than 2,000 units of non-market housing and nearly 6,000 units of what would be considered like entry-level homes.

Krausert said doing nothing about the housing situation is not an option if his city wants to avoid the fate of other communities like Canmore, which have seen their residents eviscerated due to high home prices.

“We can take a look at other mountain towns that are tourist destinations to see our future if we do nothing,” he said. “And what’s happening in these communities is they’re becoming enclaves for the very wealthy. You’re losing young families, you’re losing schools, you’re losing professionals.”

Canmore’s mayor said given the trend in home prices, the town is on track to becoming a bedroom community.

“This is not the community that the majority of Canmore residents want.”

Krausert said while other mountain towns have different tools to control the price of homes and who can buy them, Canmore is unable to implement policies such as The rule of need to reside in Banffwhich clearly states that to live in Banff, you must work in Banff.

“We also do not have the capacity to require a developer-builder to provide a certain number of affordable housing units. This is called inclusionary zoning which is not allowed in Alberta,” he said.

Canmore must use taxation and land use policy to produce affordable housing, according to Krausert.

“Ultimately, nothing was introduced into the Canmore market in terms of housing that remained affordable or accessible beyond the first owner or two,” he said.

“Everything has increased.”