The 29th annual Gravenhurst Car Show was held on June 18, 2022 at Gull Lake Rotary Park in Gravenhurst. It’s been a couple of years since the show could be held in person, and everyone seemed pretty excited to be back together in person again! Here are a few of my favourite pics from the show.
If you went to the show, did you vote for a favourite? Let us know which!
The Port Carling is 9,028 pictures pieced together into a 111ft. x 45ft. mosaic of the RMS Sagamo passing through the Port Carling Locks in 1922.
There are 906 individual photographs, which depict life in Muskoka Lakes between 1860 and 1960. They can be viewed in the nine foot lower portion of the mural – from there up the photos are replicated.
Don’t forget to find the red and blue Muskoka chair while you’re there – the wall is part of the View the Lakes chair tour, said to showcase the best views in Muskoka.
Happy exploring!
We are starting to see the Muskoka real estate market shift. From the frantic 2021 cottage market season right up until recently, holding offers until a specific date has been a popular strategy for sellers to drive up competition for listings. Listings were seeing a large number of offers and disappearing from the market quickly. Now we’re seeing more of a mix – some listings are seeing multiple offers, and some are quietly removing their request for offers when the day comes and passes with nothing.
One factor in the shifting market we’re experiencing is the Bank of Canada raising policy interest rates by 0.5% in April, one of the major goals of which was to bring inflation levels back to their target 2% (vs. the 6.7% reported in March). This is the first time it has raised rates by more than 25 basis points in more than two decades. Higher interest rates mean higher borrowing costs, which lowers demand. We expect interest rates will continue to be increased until borrowing costs are back to pre-pandemic levels of 3%. The next announcement is on June 1, 2022.
The 2022 Federal Budget also puts a few factors into play that could effect Muskoka’s real estate market moving forward. It focused heavily on housing initiatives, including (among others):
Does this mean the bottom will fall out and prices will go way down? Highly unlikely. Historically, we still have quite low inventory. It’s gone up from 2021, but properties are limited – especially waterfront. Plus, the already strong desirability of living in Muskoka has only increased after the pandemic. On top of that, there is still a large portion of the population approaching retirement age, who are looking to relocate to somewhere like Muskoka for their golden years.
If you’re a buyer, it’s time to shake off the fatigue of last season and get back to your cottage search – with less competition.
I have posted the relevant stats for overall waterfront market activity and waterfront market activity by location below, for our more analytically minded friends.
If you’re looking for non-waterfront stats or anything else that I haven’t included please email me at len@cottageinmuskoka.ca. I’d be happy to send it to you!
My parents live in Port Carling, in an old house now known as ‘Caledonia House’ (formerly Heart’s Content). It has spent portions of it’s life as a: private home, resort, music venue (more on that soon), and who knows what else. But the coolest part? It didn’t start out where it lives today – it was moved across Indian River and Mirror Lake by barge! Here is an excerpt from the 1995 book Indian River Tales by Ann Duke Judd.
“The old Heart’s Content was built around 1916 at Indian Point. In early spring, around 1928 it was put onto two scows, using horses and the high water to help.
Cribwork on the scows kept it level at the old elevation; the scows were borrowed from one of the lumber companies, and Allan Dixon was in charge of the operation. One scow sprang a leak, and since there was no electrical power at the point, it had to be hand-pumped all night. Art Duke and others took turns keeping the pump going.
The next day, they set off across the river, but about half way across Mirror Lake, the steering mechanism on the Vedette broke, and she had to be taken up to Port for repairs. The wind blew the scows and house down to Arcadia point. The centre timber caught on trees along the riverbank and pulled out – fortunately, the two outside timbers stayed secure and the house remained level.
A second time, the men attached the scows to the Vedette, and pulled their cargo close to its new site on the eastern shore – but because the boat could not tow it in from the front, the lines had to be untied while the Vedette manoeuvred to the stern to push it in.
Again, the house got away, the wind blowing it ashore at the Schreibers’. By the time it was securely tied at the proper place on the shore, daylight was gone. There was electricity on this side, but it was not very reliable then, so an electric pump was left running overnight.
The next morning, Heart’s Content was moved ashore, and lowered – one crib timber at a time – onto its site at the bottom of Silver Creek Hill.
Here it remained the home of Arthur and ‘Did’ Duke (née Elizabeth McCulley) and their sons Thomas and Reay until 1948, when the couple’s retirement home was built. The sign still identifies that home, now the residence of Rev. Tom Duke and his wife Charlotte. Tom’s main memory of the house moving is the disappointment he felt at having to go to school, and miss the excitement of the move.”
Under the current blind bidding system, potential buyers submit offers without knowing the contents of competing offers. The seller’s agent must disclose the number of offers received to all other parties who have submitted an offer, but none of the details – whether price or conditions.
The new regulations coming into effect April 1, 2023 would allow sellers the option of an open bidding process. Blind bidding will still be allowed, but it will depend on what the seller wants. Should they chose to opt for open bidding, the brokerages who represent them would disclose details of competing offers.
The Ontario government says these new regulations will help to make the home buying process more transparent, bringing down the rapidly inflating cost of homes. Blind bidding does create an opportunity for sellers to drive up prices by signing back offers for a higher price, with the potential buyer left guessing how much (if any) improvement would actually be needed to beat out the other offers on the table. With that said, it’s hard to see why the majority of sellers would chose to have open bidding with blind bidding still an option.
If this new open bidding process proves to be a popular option, it may increase trust between buyers and their agents – there seems to be a common misconception that agents are the driving force behind not disclosing the details of other offers, when in reality it is the current law. A more transparent process would ease that mistrust – as well as the huge amount of fatigue buyers are feeling in the current market.
I personally don’t think this move will change much – blind bidding benefits sellers, not buyers – so putting the choice in the hands of the seller seems to point to an obvious outcome.
There will be other changes to the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA) coming into effect in April 2023 as well: simpler standardized forms, and more disciplinary powers to the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO), the body in charge of enforcing rules for real estate salespeople and brokers.
The Doug Cross Stewardship Recognition Program, named for a late member of the Muskoka Watershed Council, aims to help local community and lake organizations across Muskoka’s watersheds recognize residents who protect the local watershed.
Each year from January 1-31, eligible organizations can register to receive a free recognition package from Muskoka Watershed Council. That organization will select a winner as they see fit. Each recognition package contains a Certificate of Recognition and a $50 gift card to Hidden Habitat native plant Nursery in Kilworthy – who happen to be the local expert we recommend when it comes to advice on naturalizing your shoreline!
Here is what the Muskoka Watershed Council has to say about Doug Cross:
“Doug Cross sat on the Muskoka Watershed Council from 2004 to 2008 as a representative for the Bracebridge Community. During his time on MWC, he used his extensive background and expertise in media communications to help get MWC’s messages out to the community. As Chair of MWC’s Communications Committee, he spearheaded the development of the Best Practices Program and secured a number of PSAs on local radio stations in support of the program.
Even after stepping down from MWC in 2008, Doug was a frequent visitor to the MWC office and attended many MWC events. He was a great advocate for MWC in the community and he continued his support with a generous donation to MWC upon his passing on January 25, 2020 at the age of 76. MWC is proud to name the Stewardship Recognition Program after Doug Cross as a way to encourage members of our communities to keep our watersheds beautiful.”
We love this idea – keep up the great work, MWC!
We hope that there were lots of good highlights for you in 2021 and that you were able to enjoy a rich holiday season.
Winter is historically a slower time in real estate. Comparatively speaking, this has been a strong late fall/winter season so far. Overall sales volume is down somewhat, but that is due to few sales, which we attribute to lack of inventory. Individual sale prices are up from last year and continue to trend upwards.
Please see the individual charts for Muskoka and please feel free to contact me at 705-801-2304 for more details on anything you have a particular interest in. We have the stats at our fingertips and our job is to help you decipher them.
Have a wonderful start to what promises to be a wonderful year – Happy 2022 Everybody!
I’ve just spent my first Christmas away from my family – because I’m in the UK! You can find more info on that in my last post, but long story short, I was on an extended trip and didn’t want to travel home for Christmas and help spread Omicron to Muskoka. Since I’ve just experienced my first British Christmas, I thought I would write about a few differences between Canadian Christmas and Christmas in the UK.
Every year, the Queen delivers a Christmas message reflecting on current issues and concerns the UK faces, and what Christmas means to her and her followers. More than 9 million viewers tuned in for her address this year. Though this isn’t a tradition in every household, it is in many, and even families who don’t watch every year seem to tune in from time to time.
For some, it is a very serious occasion – my dad Steve remembers visiting his Great Grandmother (born in England) every year on Christmas morning. She would be dressed up for the occasion, and he and his brother Chris would be kicked out of the room for the Queen’s Christmas message. You are also supposed to stand for the National anthem (God Save the Queen). Or maybe for the entire speech… it’s been different depending on who I’ve asked. This investigative reporter has been inundated with sherry and pigs in blankets, so I’ll settle on reporting that some standing is certainly involved.
As kids, we would often get a Terry’s chocolate orange in our Christmas stocking. I know many families enjoy chocolate oranges at Christmas, but England takes it to another level entirely. I pointed this out to my friend when Christmas items started appearing in stores at the beginning of November. My friend responded with “well, we definitely have a few but I don’t think there’s that many?” And so my quest to find as many chocolate orange items as possible began.
I made an instagram post the other day where I counted through 49 of them (forgetting about the chocolate orange milk in our fridge, and the chocolate orange subway cookie we had picked up). This also doesn’t include a few items that we had seen in November but could no longer find, like yorkies and lion bars. Cookies, chocolate, even diet bars – if you like chocolate orange, England is the place for you.
Many of the traditional Christmas dinner items in Canada are the same as in the UK – some sort of fowl as the main, stuffing, potatoes, sprouts, green beans, gravy, and cranberry sauce. The stuffing is different – it does use breadcrumbs, but it seems much heavier on the sausage and has the addition of chestnuts. British Christmas dinner includes a few things that the Canadian version doesn’t – Christmas pudding (except for in some families), and pigs in blankets (an absolute must here).
It’s also traditional to have mincemeat pies on Christmas Day and at Christmas celebrations here – something I’ve never known anyone to do in Canada (but let us know if your family does!).
In recent years, this has changed a little… but growing up you could pretty much always expect to have a white Christmas! In England this is a rarity. We actually ended up having snow on Christmas night this year… and at home in Port Carling there was none! Notwithstanding this role reversal, generally you can expect snow in Muskoka and a green (no, really!) Christmas in England… well, and grey. Grey skies always.
Okay, so we may have sprouts at Christmas… but we don’t love them nearly as much as the Brits do. I was amazed when Christmas season hit and they started popping up everywhere – I’ve seen Brussels Sprouts:
Boxing Day is one of the biggest shopping days in Canada – that’s not much of a thing in England. I found most shops closed, aside from grocery stores. There is a different tradition though – a boxing day dip! The friend I’m staying with has parents who live near the coast, where people run into the ocean on Boxing Day – sometimes for charity, sometimes just for fun. Sounds a little less cushy than our tradition!
My friend’s mum also told me about her grandparents, who were married on Boxing Day. A lot of people struggled for money back then, so they would get married on Boxing Day to take advantage of the Christmas leftovers. Smart!
And that’s it – all the differences between Christmas in England and Canada that I’ve found so far. Did I miss anything? Leave a comment and let me know! And Happy New Year to all!
I am lucky in my career. I live in a gorgeous place, spend much of my time with people I admire, and tour incredible cottages on the regular. I am also lucky to live in a place with a bustling summer season, and a real estate partner I can take turns covering in-person business with during the slower winter season.
I decided to take advantage of that this year, and take a trip to visit a friend in England. I booked my trip for four months down the road (in the end of October), crossed my fingers, and waited. When the time finally came there were no travel advisories. I had been double jabbed, and I was all set to go. After six amazing weeks of exploring England, driving the North Coast 500 in Scotland, visiting endless castles, and taking my first trip to Ireland (Dublin), it was time to come home.
There was only one problem… Omicron! My return was originally scheduled for December 15th, in time for me to be home for Christmas. By a week before my planned return the new variant had started to become a major news story. By a few days before? Cases were surging, and travel advisories were being issued. The UK was ahead of Canada in cases – Omicron was set to be the dominant variant in London (where I’d be flying out of) by December 16th – just one day after my flight. I didn’t want to risk flying home & potentially being part of the spread, so I hopped online and booked a new flight – for March! Thank goodness I did. Cases continued to surge, and I was able to book a booster shot here sooner than I would have been able to at home.
Anyway, remote work it is! And there’s another way I’m lucky – aside from a few in person meetings like showings and listing appointments, I’m able to do the majority of my work online. I will have to post another blog about that… it’s amazing how much we are able to do remotely these days! And I have my partner Catharine Inniss on the ground in Muskoka to cover the rest.
If you want some information on the market, or if you’re looking to buy or sell, please don’t hesitate to contact Catharine at 705-801-2304, or to email me at len@cottageinmuskoka.ca.
See you next time, when I talk about some differences between Christmas in Canada and Christmas in the United Kingdom! Merry Christmas everyone – I’m off to eat some pigs in blankets!
As the leaves turn colour and slowly fall to the ground, Muskoka turns to the fourth quarter of the year and embraces a strong real estate market. This fall we are comparing statistics from last September to this September and analyzing the activity from July to July, September to September. Despite the traditional slowing of the market as we face the end of the year, average prices are up (over one million), and the real estate market remains strong in Muskoka. The market has made a slight shift to normal, but still leans heavily in the seller camp.
Median sale price overall is up! This is across The Lakelands, which includes Muskoka, Parry Sound, Haliburton and Orillia.
The Gateway to Muskoka is a popular destination for cottaging and year round living.
The Bracebridge median price is slightly lower than Gravenhurst, but up from last year, which set records.
Huntsville median price is close to $700,000.00. Huntsville has a good combination of non waterfront and waterfront properties.
The median sales price in Muskoka Lakes is over one million dollars. There are plenty of lovely homes and cottages here.
RESIDENTIAL SALES IN MUSKOKA
Today’s snapshot –
There are 278 active listings for a total asking price of $406,536,876.00 The average price is $1,462,363.00. Average days on the market is 59, which is longer than we have recently seen.
There are 67 closed listings for a total price of $70,490,210.00. The average price here is $1.052,093.00. Days on market – 24.
Conditional sales total 29 for a total price of $22,346,700.00. The average price is $770,576.00. Days on market – 56.
Pending sales 237 for a total price of $257,328,494.00 with an average price of $1,085,774.00. Days on market – 33
Overall lack of inventory in Muskoka and the Greater Golden Horseshoe is keeping prices strong. There is a shortage of single family homes, cottages and rental properties. Muskoka continues to be a much sought after destination.
