Hoping to cash out, a wave of retiring cottage owners face a buyer’s market

For decades, Susan Van Norman‘s family cottage in Muskoka, Ont., was a cherished summer retreat.

Her parents built the cottage in 1973, and it was later inherited by Ms. Van Norman and her sister, Christine Ransom. It has been a gathering place for their three kids and seven grandchildren, who have spent long summer days fishing off the dock and have etched each person’s height and age on a measuring stick in the small kitchen.