PICTURESQUE fishing villages with brightly painted houses and white-sand beaches can be found all along Nova Scotia’s 4,700-mile coastline. People flock to this beautiful Canadian province in search of a better quality of life.

“You can hop in your kayak after work and go paddling with the porpoises,” says Tim Hoare, a local estate agent. The high quality of life seems to attract not just holiday-home owners but immigrants, too.

“We were surprised to find that 50 per cent of our clients are people looking to emigrate from the UK,” says Kilmeny Fane-Saunders, director of Second Home Nova Scotia.

Prices are a further attraction, for immigrants and holidaymakers alike. Waterfront properties – on the coast, on rivers and the shores of the province’s 3,600 lakes – can be had for as little as £150,000, while cottages with access to lakes and rivers can be snapped up for just £50,000. If you are looking at prime oceanfront property, prices start at about £200,000.

“This is the cheapest place in North America to buy oceanfront property,” Hoare says.

The stretch of coastline from Halifax to Yarmouth is known as the South Shore and is perhaps the most attractive destination for UK buyers, as well as for visitors from the US.

“We get a lot of weekenders from the States,” Hoare says. “For many people, it is quicker to get here than it is to drive the four hours to the Hamptons.”

A three-bedroom seaside house in the fishing village of Prospect, built in 1796 but renovated in the early 1990s, is available for C$375,000 (£190,000). The house has ocean views from all its rooms, as well as its own two-storey boathouse and dock. A little farther along the coast, at the Anchorage at Deep Cove, you can purchase one of 30 homes in a new development, with prices starting at C$279,000 for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom home. The properties all have ocean views and will share their own 142ft-dock in this sheltered bay.

More luxurious homes do carry higher price tags. SeaWinds is a 2,800 sq ft house situated in more than six acres of wooded land at Spruce Point, about ten minutes’ drive from Chester. The house, built four years ago, also has a water-side deck – an ideal spot for whale-watching – as well as a tiny cottage that could serve as a studio. The property, which also includes an adjoining lot, is available for C$1.8 million.

The most expensive properties in the province are to be found in the village of Chester, which has a population of just 1,200 permanent residents, swelling much larger with sailors in the summer. The peninsula stretching out in between Chester’s Front and Back Harbours is the local equivalent of millionaires’ row. Just off the coast you can see the island owned by Sir Christopher Ondaatje, the billionaire businessman, philanthropist and author. While prime property here sells for more than C$1 million, it is possible to find more affordable homes. A two-bedroom condominium overlooking the front harbour is available for C$475,000, while a three-bedroom house in the village – without sea views – is on the market at C$440,000.

On the South Shore, the farther you travel away from Halifax the cheaper properties become. Lakefront, as opposed to oceanfront, homes, are also relatively inexpensive. A three-bedroom cottage on Miller Lake, for example, is available for just C$280,000, while a three-bedroom chalet-style house on Lake Torment, Kings County, is on the market for C$189,000.

For those who would prefer to build rather than buy, parcels of land can be had for as little as C$20,000, although prime lots are considerably more expensive. At Lloyd’s Landing near Chester, for example, oceanfront lots start at C$295,000, with larger plots going for C$355,000.

“More and more British buyers are looking at land as an investment,” says Carol Reynolds, the agent handling the sale of lots at Lloyds Landing. “Oceanfront land is a global commodity, and this is a good place to buy: Canada is stable and safe with a booming economy.”

FACTFILE

There are no restrictions on foreign buyers purchasing land or property.

Buyers are allowed to borrow up to 65 per cent of the property’s value.

When an offer is accepted, a deposit of 5 to 10 per cent must be lodged with the real-estate agent listed.

The average house price in Nova Scotia is C$170,000 compared with just over C$400,000 in British Columbia, the Canadian Real Estate Association says.

Deep Cove Anchorage: www.deepcoveanchorage.com

Lloyds Landing: www.lloydslanding.com

Second Home Nova Scotia: www.secondhomenovascotia.com

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