St. Margarets Bay & Hubbards Real Estate

Most of it happens on the water. The St. Margaret Sailing Club in Glen Haven runs learn-to-sail and youth programs and keelboat racing into October, and you can tie up for dinner at Tuna Blue on Hubbards Cove or at Shining Waters Marina at the head of the bay, home to a Saltbox taproom and the Scotia by the Sea restaurant.

Queensland and Bayswater are provincial beaches with supervised swimming in July and August. The St. Margaret’s Bay rail trail runs 33 km from Hubley to Hubbards with raised views over the bay. In Hubbards, the farmers’ market at the Hubbards Barn runs Saturday mornings from May to October, and the Shore Club has served lobster suppers since 1936, with a live band every summer Saturday night.

In winter, St. Margaret’s Centre in Upper Tantallon has two ice surfaces, a gym and a fitness centre. Peggy’s Cove sits on the bay’s eastern shore.

Be careful here. Under HRM's 2023 rules an entire-home short-term rental in a residential zone must be the operator's primary residence. An older clause in this by-law allows one dwelling unit per lot to be used as accommodation for the travelling public, which may get a cottage buyer where they want to go, but it is a development officer's call on the specific parcel.

The February 2026 change that loosened this covered six rural plan areas and St. Margarets Bay is not one of them. If rental income is part of why you are buying, get the answer in writing from a planner before you remove conditions. Both the municipal and provincial registrations are also required.

The federal ban applies inside Census Metropolitan Areas, and the Halifax CMA covers this whole corridor, so for Upper Tantallon, Seabright, the head of the bay, Black Point, Queensland, Fox Point and the Halifax County side of Hubbards, it applies. It is currently set to expire 1 January 2027, and it has been extended before, so confirm its status when you buy.

Hubbards straddles the line. The HRM boundary with the Municipality of the District of Chester runs through the area, and the Chester side is outside the CMA, where the ban does not reach. Do not go by which side of a road a house sits on. The deciding fact is which municipality the PID is assessed in, and I check that on the specific property.

Nova Scotia's non-resident deed transfer tax is separate and it does apply, with an exemption if you move here and file proof of residency within a year of closing. For closings before 6 August 2026 that window was six months. Detail is in Buying From Away.

People do it here regularly. Video walkthroughs, remote signing, and someone on the ground checking the things a listing photo will not show you. I live on the bay and fly my own drone, so if you want to see a property or a street from the air, ask. I will also tell you when a house needs a second look in person before you commit, because some of them do.

I can. I’m Doug Mills, a REALTOR® with Royal LePage Atlantic. I live on St. Margarets Bay, work out of the Royal LePage Atlantic office on Main Street in Mahone Bay, and buy and sell along the South Shore from Peggy’s Cove to Liverpool. This is my own stretch of coast, from Tantallon and Peggy’s Cove to Hubbards and the Aspotogan.

Call or text me at +1 902-410-3740, or email doug@dougmills.ca.

It depends mostly on which water you’re on. A lake lot, sheltered bay frontage and outer-bay oceanfront are three different prices.

As a rough guide, under $500K buys an inland house or a cottage. $500K to $750K is the heart of the market: a year-round family house with the water nearby rather than frontage, and it’s where most Halifax commuters buy. $750K to $1.2M buys real frontage on the bay or a lake, and outer-bay oceanfront starts around $1.2M. The price bands and current listings are further up this page.

Almost all of them. There’s very little municipal water or sewer around the bay, so most homes have their own well and septic system. That’s normal here and nothing to be nervous about, but check it properly.

Make your offer conditional on a water test, for quality and for how much the well delivers, and on a septic inspection. Ask how old the septic system is too, because replacing one is a real cost and it belongs in the conversation before you firm up.

Close enough that plenty of people drive in every day. From the head of the bay, downtown Halifax is about 30 to 45 minutes, closer to 45 at rush hour, and from Hubbards it’s 40 to 55.

Bayers Lake, with Costco and the big-box stores, is about 25 minutes. Halifax Stanfield airport is 45 to 55 minutes, or an hour or more from Hubbards.