Canada’s Golf Homes Are Luring More Buyers

Residences, which have a contemporary aesthetic with a rustic twist, include condominiums, homes and villas; prices start at around $310,000. Owners can enjoy amenities such as tennis, an infinity pool, a spa, hiking and mountain biking trails, skiing, and snowshoeing.

Oviinbyrd Golf Club, on the southern tip of Lake Joseph, is another private course and considered to be ultraexclusive. As a result, the homes for sale near the club are expensive, Mr. Woof said, with prices beginning at $2 million.

But many golf home buyers purchase single-family properties that are not part of planned developments, according to Mr. Woof (these properties are called cottages, giving Muskoka its cottage-country nickname). “Ideally, you want a property on the lake to get the best of lake life,” he said. Prices for a fixer-upper lakefront home start at $750,000 but drop to $550,000 for a home away from the water.

Residential real estate is selling at a brisk pace in Muskoka in the wake of the pandemic. According to the Lakelands Association of Realtors, which covers Muskoka as well as surrounding areas, waterfront properties spent an average of 20 days on the market in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with 24 days in the fourth quarter of 2020. Also, the median sale price for waterfront properties in the region rose 12.2 percent on a year-over-year basis to around $659,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Homeowners who are golfers can partake in plenty of other pursuits when they are not on the course. Like the Okanagan Valley, ice skating, ice fishing and snowmobiling are staple winter pastimes; cross-country skiing is also popular. Summer means spending time around the lakes and boating, swimming, kayaking and fishing.

Muskoka’s proximity to Toronto Pearson International Airport, (about a two-hour drive) which offers flights to and from large cities globally such as London, New York and Munich, means that the destination attracts a diversity of international buyers.

“We see people from France, England, Switzerland, Los Angeles, Chicago and more,” Mr. Woof said.

Muskoka’s easygoing lifestyle is comparable to Okanagan Valley’s.

“You cap off a day of golf with a drink while watching the sunset, maybe around your firepit, and then have a great dinner,” Mr. Woof said. “We savor living a good life.”