Construction underway on Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch homes

The first homes to be built just east of Canmore at Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch are selling fast, as the market for vacation and rental properties near Alberta's beautiful Rocky Mountains and provincial parks heat up.

The 10-acre site comprises 24 single-family homes on the edge of Kananaskis Country, close to the base of Mount Yamnuska, along the banks of the Bow River.

Each new residence will be situated near where the community's first home was built by Missy Bagley Brewster in 1922 when she launched Brewster's Kananaskis Guest Ranch.

"These properties are going to be right in the heart of nature, plus they are 15 minutes to Canmore, 30 minutes to Banff or 45 minutes to Calgary," said Janet Brewster-Stanton, owner of Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch.

"You've got hiking, a famous mountain to climb, the Bow River and skiing, all nearby."

With no restrictions on residency, the homes will be designed with second-home vacation property and rental purposes in mind.

"This type of zoning allows residents to rent homes out as short-term or long-term destination rentals. It is the only community in the Bow Valley to allow this," said Shane Jonker, president, Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch Development.

"It is structured as a bare-land condominium development in order to create a private community with separate services."

The community will retain plenty of natural green space with trails running along the Bow River.

Home site construction with clearing, grading and utility lines installed was completed at the end of May and home sites have been available for owner possession since June 1.

Kevin Smyth, lead sales consultant with Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch, says the lots start in the $585,000 range.

"The market has been very strong for these homes and COVID has had an effect on that directly, where we see many people working remotely and wanting these kinds of options," he said.

"We expect within the next six to eight months for this area to transform completely."

Amongst the first to purchase a lot is NHL goaltender Chris Driedger, who recently signed with the Florida Panthers.

"The Canadian Rockies are the most beautiful place on earth. From the first time my parents brought me to the mountains as a child, I was mesmerized," he said.

"When the opportunity arose to make Brewster's Kananaskis Ranch a permanent part of my life, it was a dream come true."

Architectural guidelines for all customer-designed homes include a range of styles spanning traditional Alpine aesthetics and more modern interpretations including timber, stone or earth tones.

Walk-out designs are possible on some sites as well, where residents can build up to three storeys.

The Brewster's Kananaskis Guest Ranch has also served as the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters including The River of No Return (1954), Dances with Wolves (1990), Legends of the Fall (1994) and The Revenant (2015).

Recreational property market on rise: Royal LePage report

According to the Royal LePage spring recreational property report, the median price of a single-family home in Canada's recreation regions is forecast to increase five per cent to $678,930 in 2024.

"Across the nation, there was a sizable rise in demand for all types of housing during the pandemic but nothing could match the 'gold rush fever' that occurred in the recreational property markets," said Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage.

"With city offices closed and the wide availability of high-speed internet allowing people to take video meetings on lakefronts and mountain tops, excess demand pushed recreational property prices to unprecedented heights."

Local Realtor Clare McArdle with Century 21 Nordic Realty says there's been a particularly huge increase in the Canmore area.

"It's been really heating up even before COVID but we're definitely seeing a major increase in value. I mean, maybe two years ago, we were selling vacation rentals in that $700 per square foot price range and we just did a sales launch on a new development a few weeks ago and we were getting $1,300 a square foot," she said.

"There's still a lot of demand and it's coming from all over. Obviously, there's a foreign investor ban right now and so you're not able to participate with them but certainly, from Calgary, from surrounding areas, Edmonton, all over Alberta, Ontario and B.C. are still major buyers in this market."

'We're in a housing crisis': Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert

According to a recent staff report to Canmore's committee of the whole, the average median price of a residential Canmore home is now above $1 million.

In 2021, the median assessed residential home value was $772,000, which then jumped to $800,000 in 2022 and $969,000 in 2023.

As of 2024, the average home in Canmore is valued at $1.043 million.

"We're in a housing crisis, much like a lot of places across Canada. However, given the cost of our land, the problem is exacerbated," said Mayor Sean Krausert.

"So we are undertaking a multi-pronged approach to address our housing situation. First of which is about zoning land that we control so that we can provide non-market housing.

"So we're developing as much non-market housing as possible, because anything that's hit the market in Canmore has not remained affordable past its first owner."

Canmore council passed the Palliser Trail area structure plan late in 2023, which at full buildout will add more than 1,000 affordable housing units.

Another affordable housing project set to come online is in Stewart Creek, where an 18-unit building with more than 50 bedrooms is expected to be constructed.