As the Canadian loonie rapidly rises to even par with the American dollar and all indications are that the downward trend in the Arizona housing market appears to have bottomed out, opportunities for Canadians to own a piece of winter paradise couldn’t be better.

At least that’s what the folks at Encanterra are banking on. This Trilogy-developed country club—the name Encanterra means “enchanted earth” in spanish—located in town of Queen Creek, about 45 minutes southeast of downtown Phoenix.

Encanterra is a master-plan, single-detached home development centred around a private resort golf course designed by PGA Tour veteran and former Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman.

The Par 72 course, which stretches over 7,250 yeards from the back tees, is a classic risk/reward track with a variety of teeing options making it appealing to golfers of all levels. Most holes provide stunning views of Superstition Mountain to the north and South Mountain Park to the west.

“We don’t expect our members to get bored with this course,” says Chris Schwartz, head golf professional at Encanterra, of the course that was named one of 2009’s Best New Courses by Golfweek.

Heart of Encanterra

The heart of the Encanterra development is La Casa—not your standard golf course clubhouse.

This 60,000-square-foot complex, designed by award-winning architect Bing Hu, is the focal point of the Encanterra development. There are a slew of amenities and services on-hand:

• fully equipped golf shop
• athletic club
• indoor and outdoor pools
• spa
• four restaurants
• ballroom
• business centre
• concierge
• private lounges

Catering to Canadians

Encanterra caters to Canadians, both golfers and non-golfers. Amongst the wide variety of memberships being offered, the International Membership is available to seasonal Arizona residents.

After paying an initiation deposit of $20,000, monthly dues for international members are paid from November to April only. And during this time, these members are provided with access to all amenities within the club.

A similar membership for year-round access would involve a $25,000 initiation deposit and dues would need to be paid all 12 months.

And the monthly dues are shockingly low for a resort of this quality – $125 per month for the social membership and $300 per month for the golf.

“Seventy per cent of our residents right now are from Western Canada, Washington and Ohio,” explained Ben Keilholtz of Blue Star Resort & Golf Management, owners of Trilogy. “That’s why our six-month program for seasonal residents has been so appealing.”

Early Stages of Development

Encanterra is still in the early stages of its development. Approximately 200 homes have been built to date, while the final master plan has room for 2,400 home sites.

That said, the number of golf memberships is being capped at 500 – 450 for Encanterra residents and 50 for non-residents of the resort. (Non-residents would face a $40,000 initiation deposit along with monthly dues.) There are almost 100 golf members already.

“We really feel that the economy in Arizona here bottomed out in the first quarter of 2010,” says Jared Wright, membership director for Encanterra. “And we see some health returning to the real estate sector through the rest of 2010. But this will be a slow recovery. We will not see a really big rebound until 2011, but that’s why we’re suggesting people get in now.”

There are three different home collections available at Encanterra – the Francia, Italia, and Espana – with five different model types available within each collection.

Prices range from $212,000 for a 1,437-square-foot two-bedroom home up to $370,000 for a 3,764 square-foot three-bedroom home. Price increases on all homes of three to five percent are scheduled to kick in later in 2010.