Across Canada, you’ll still find country properties that have remained with families over generations. Some of these properties have interesting stories, too, from its land-based along famous early exploration trails to being the main settings for popular movies.
Within the last few decades, most country living was largely supported by demand for local skills. This included urban planners, teachers, farmers, foresters, conservation officers, and more. Plus, as rotational work demand increased across countries like Canada, many people choose to live in the countryside.
In fact, these income opportunities were saviors to some families where its local industries dissolved. Over the last few decades, there have also been migrations from rural areas to cities as resource-based industries reached the end of business cycles, or cyclical industries ended.
Today, there’s another flip in place that’s making people think twice about living in the city. Country homes are heating up in market demand from a new shift in trends. Keep reading, and we’ll tell you more.
Reduced Cultural Barriers Invite International Living
In the past, cross-cultural communications were certainly a factor in business and team development. Language barriers made it difficult to communicate in business and created friction points. This was one factor with nationalism. But, today, this is less common, and the trend is cross-communication within cultures. In fact, a range of business cultures is at the root of many great innovations from unique ideas brought on by varying views.
But, falling cultural barriers go far beyond these changing views. Technology is paving new roads for cross-cultural communications. What may have started as a few people telecommuting has spurred into entirely new forms of work. Today, over 50% of the world has access to the Internet, and a high majority of the working population has access to computing devices from cell phones to laptops.
More, the global events of 2020 have proven that a high percentage of people can do their job from home. Also, your home does not need to be from within your resident country to carry our teamwork. Many businesses are now reaching out across the world for human resource solutions. Jobs are advertised as work from anywhere. This means that teams and businesses are facing new choices. Where do we want to be, and who do they want to work with?
Trends in Real Estate Costs – Urban Versus Country Homes
As a decision around where to live, the cost is a major factor. In the present, one could argue that while inflation rates set by country regulators appear low, true overall inflation on assets quiet large. At the forefront of such assets is real estate.
Over most of the last twenty years, real estate in major cities across North America has been in the direction of up. In major cities across Canada, a basic detached home can easily come at a price of over 1 million, often over 2 million. In the thought of space, renting a 700 square foot space can easily take 2300 a month out of your pocket.
Regarding asset inflation, if we do indeed include consumer price indexed goods usually removed from inflation rates, along with urban real estate we can arrived to a completely different picture. How much of a percent do you think your general goods have increased over the last year? How much do you think urban real estate can rise by percentage in a year? If you are thinking many more percentages than the stated inflation rates, you are probably right. If you are not making an income rising with all of this inflation, then urban living costs present many people with new choices.
These days, you can find country properties at a fraction of the cost compared to urban real estate. Within just a few hours of major urban areas, acreages with spacious homes can be found at prices in the hundreds of thousands for those getting started; some of these properties can be cash positive investments from rentals or businesses on site. If you wanted to rent, consider divisions of 2 from your urban rent with enough space to hear a light wind breeze!
For those more established and looking for larger developed properties, there’s an incredible opportunity for many types of businesses, from equestrian and farmland to business retreats. In all, there are some beautiful acreages with luxurious stays outfitted to combine serious business and lifestyle.
Regardless of your financial position, the cost of real estate in rural areas is attractive to both early entrants or those established with real estate assets. Still, the wealth benefits expand beyond cash flow.
Lifestyle Attraction Real Estate Trends
Communities of all sizes, including urban, have rewarding lifestyle attractions. For decades, major urban areas have brought us interesting diversity from culture. We find a range of experiences in food, social gatherings, beautiful parks too.
Still, people are compelled to travel the countryside for a refreshing and reenergizing the soul. They plan a beautiful day and weekend trips to reconnect with nature. So, what if you could flip the routine, would you? Living the country life is a lifestyle that gives you more of the day and weekend trips you’d have while living in the city. You could also argue that a weekend in the city could be a lot more fun with more money in hand.
But, ultimately, the lifestyle is the things you get to experience from day to day. Although your job may or may not be the same, your access to experiences would not. Your access can be greater than you ever imagined.
Be a gardener, learn to ride a horse, build an office next to your house for your international business, work in an art studio as an extension of your house, produce your own food, build a self-sufficient home with solar power, become a nature photographer, ski or hike daily, take a longer vacation internationally. The lifestyle of country living is not a boring life with nothing to do; it’s quite the opposite. That said, one of the greatest drivers to real estate trends are lifestyle with interest to more square footage and green-space.
Country Living and Community Memberships
Many country properties are within a 15-minute drive of a fully developed community. Remote is an old mindset when we consider the connectivity both within and outside of a country home.
First, people within the countryside share a lot of common interests. The lifestyle can be share in many ways, including a gathering for hikes or cross country skiing, photography groups, and more. Local events tend to have more connectivity within the people since there is a greater chance of knowing your neighbor or volunteering for the community. And even the smallest communities have access to our greatest community needs. For example, many smaller colleges are now becoming extensions of universities. Even education has advanced in a cross-communication-like way.
Within the country life, there’s also more time opportunities for community membership inside and outside. If you are commuting 2-3 hours a day after a full workday, the idea of coaching a team, watching a game, or even visiting can be daunting. In contrast, if you could receive back such time, you might enjoy a little more time for your local community or even community activities abroad.
On the whole, there are many changing factors to where we may choose to live. As people, our cross-communications advancements have given us an edge on coming together more to solving problems. Technology has put an interesting twist in our work opportunities and reach of Human Resources. Given the cost advantages, lifestyle experiences, and access to communities near and far, country home demand is heating up.