Sylvan Lake home to some of Canada’s priciest waterfront

Canada’s priciest waterfront might now be located on Sylvan Lake.

The 2010 Re/Max Recreational Property Report, released on Thursday, places the starting price for a three-bedroom lakefront property on the Central Alberta lake at $1.2 million. That’s the same as for a comparable home on Lake Windermere in British Columbia, and higher than the nearly 50 other resort communities considered in the report.

Last year, Re/Max’s Recreational Property Report determined that the starting price for lakefront property at Sylvan Lake was $1,125,000. That ranked behind Lake Windermere and Vernon, B.C., which each came in at $1.2 million.

In the 2008 report, Sylvan Lake’s price was $1,250,000, and the year before that it was $1 million.

Re/Max noted this year that no waterfront properties at Sylvan Lake had been sold as of March 31. Back row homes were going for less than $500,000, with water-access properties available from $800,000 and smaller cottages from $600,000.

The most expensive property available on Sylvan Lake is priced at $2.5 million, said the report, with the cheapest $598,000.

Typical buyers of recreational property at Sylvan Lake were identified as 35- to 45-year-old oil executives from Edmonton or Calgary, with young families.

Canmore was the only other Alberta community included in the report, with the starting price for a two-bedroom condominium there listed at $270,000.


The least expensive waterfront properties in Canada were on Newfoundland’s east coast, with the starting price for a three-bedroom home there $105,000.

The other most expensive included Vernon ($1.15 million), Tofino ($875,000), Salt Spring Island ($750,000 to $800,000), Fraser Valley ($800,000) and Okanagan Valley ($800,000), all of which are in B.C.

The report noted that sales of recreational property have increased in nearly 80 per cent of the areas considered, with prices going up in 43 per cent.

It added that few Americans are now buying recreational properties in Canada. Instead, discounted homes in the southern states are drawing purchasers from Canada.