According to research from one property company, Canadian real estate has emerged as a popular choice among investors looking for a holiday home.

Christopher Chadd, head of research at Property Frontiers says: "Our own research indicates that Canada is a very popular choice amongst our investors looking to purchase somewhere where they could visit maybe a couple of times a year for a holiday, and the fact that English is the country's first language does help people looking for property in the country. "

Figures show Canadian property prices are slowly rising - they average £164,920 for 2008, with estimates from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation suggesting that the figure will rise to £165,100 in 2009. Such increases may not be staggering, but they do represent one of the few markets predicting growth in the coming year, and this is despite sharing a border with America.

Though Chadd highlights English speaking as an attraction to buying Canadian property, other experts point towards an area where French is widely spoken as the region to consider buying in.

According to Lang Walker, executive chairman of Walker Corporation: "Those looking to buy a home overseas should definitely consider investing in a property in East Canada. Areas such as Mont Tremblant in Quebec have a greater appeal as they provide excellent winter sports and outdoor pursuits facilities," he says "The province of Quebec is also predicted to continue growing in 2009 which should provide further reassurance to those looking to buy."

Indeed, Mont Tremblant has been ranked eastern North America's number one ski resort in 2008 by Ski Magazine for the eighth consecutive year; it has 94 different runs served by 13 state of the art lifts and has seen celebrity property investors Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas buy a property there.

Three-, four- and five-bedroom lodges at Eagles Ridge Golf and Country Club, on the border of the Mont Tremblant National Park, are on the market from £249,000 from Undiscovered Properties.

As a whole the Canadian property market has managed to escape the effects of the crisis suffered by its neighbour due to ten consecutive years of balanced budgets, strong levels of employment and oil and gas reserves.

Elsewhere in the country, since Vancouver was selected to host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games visitor numbers have been on the rise.

Canada, already famed for its abundant great outdoors, received a record $2.1 billion income from overseas visitors in the second quarter of 2008, up 5.6 per cent from the same time in 2007 as 24.7 per cent more travellers stepped ashore This trend can surely only continue as well as the Olympics get closer, meaning further improvements to the facilities for visitors, while investors in Canadian property near the Olympic venue should also reap rewards from the world's gaze being trained on Vancouver in 2010.

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For more information visit:
www.propertyfrontiers.com
www.undiscoveredproperties.com

Article first published 17 November 2008