Location:Port Severn,Muskoka Price: $14,999,000 Size: 17 acres of land with 41 guest rooms and a three-bedroom cottage Real estate agent:Ali Booth, Sotheby’s International Realty
The place
A fully operational vacation escape sitting on 17 acres of land on Little Lake in Muskoka. The property comes with 41 guest rooms, a three-bedroom cottage, a private island accessible by helicopter and more than 600 metres of shoreline. It’s a short drive from Highway 400 and several neighbouring resorts.
The history
This getaway was originally built in the 1950s. The current owners purchased the place in 2021 and immediately invested $1 million to replace the roof and rebuild the guest cottage. After serving as a filming location for Bachelor in Paradise Canada, it reopened for business in July of 2022. The owners are now taking on a new venture and looking to sell the resort to a wealthy investor.
To begin, here’s an aerial view of the peninsula, with its many docks, green spaces and lodges. That’s Port Severn North Road just beyond the parking lot.
And here’s the main entrance. The original hotel was renovated around Y2K, and the current owners bought it in 2021.
In the lobby: guest check-in, a lounge and doric columns.
The full-service restaurant overlooks the lake and includes a café and lounge.
This reverse angle shows off the bar and dramatic circular ceiling.
There’s also a nail salon down the hall.
The indoor pool and hot tub are open year-round.
The shiplap ceilings and wall of windows add warmth to the massive space.
Here’s the 24-hour gym, with rubber floors.
Now for a peek inside one of the European-style suites, which are larger than traditional hotel rooms. This one is outfitted with hardwood floors, a stone fireplace, a floor-to-ceiling walkout and gold accents throughout.
The hotel also rents out its 90-seat conference centre for weddings and corporate retreats.
Here’s another look at the cavernous conference centre.
Outside, it’s all about the amenities: a tennis court, a patio, a private beach, many docks for water sports and a private island accessible by helicopter.
Speaking of water sports, guests are free to explore Little Lake and its seemingly endless waterways.
Here’s the tropical-themed beach.
Finally, another bird’s eye view of the compound, highlighting the ample space for expansion. While there have been no formal approvals for development, the town has provided zoning guidelines on what could be built here.
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
