Ontarians aren’t buying cottages (even though prices have plateaued)

Even if summer weather calls for decompressing in front of a lake (that is, one that’s out of earshot from the Gardiner Expressway), Ontario’s cottage market is lagging. Royal LePage just issued a report on the recreational property market that says a whopping 59 per cent of Ontarians who planned to buy a cottage have postponed the decision because of global economic uncertainty. With the slower demand, and an abundance of supply coming from baby boomers who no longer want their vacation homes now that their children have grown up, prices have plateaued—although waterfront properties under $400,000 and over $1 million are still attracting buyers. But cottage lovers who don’t want to take the plunge into ownership can always rent—and may want to check out twohoursnorth.com, a new Toronto-based site that lists rental cottages by travel time so they’ll know exactly how long they’ll be stuck in traffic before arriving lakeside. [Toronto Star]