Tiny oceanfront cottages that can be bought for around $150,000 are signs of a changing B.C. recreational market once defined as luxurious and elite.

At Port Renfrew, a waterfront village 45 minutes northwest of Victoria, developer Three Point Properties has converted an old recreational vehicle campsite into a strata development for dozens of 400-square-foot, fully furnished cottages. The first units, offered at $129,000 last May, quickly sold out and the company is now offering 20 more. The latest cottages, trucked into the site as two pods that are then connected and finished on site, will be closer to the ocean and priced in the $150,000 to $175,000 range, according to a company spokesman.

A similar project offering small modular cottages has proven popular at Red Mountain Resort in the Kootenays, where 605-square-foot "ski cabins" are offered from $299,000. 

Real estate consultant Ozzie Jurock suggests the low-priced cottages reflect a pushback from recreational buyers who have balked at sky-high resort condo prices. 

For more on this topic, see the recreational section in the March issue of Western Investor