New buildings continue to go up in Stratford. (CBC)

Country homes and cottages have been pushed aside by urban condominiums as the hot property on Prince Edward Island.

Dozens of condos have been built in the Charlottetown area recently, and construction is not expected to stop soon.

"What's been built now, the occupancy is pretty high," real estate agent Dianne Bell said.

"The Northumberland still has a few units left, but they're the lower-end units — you know, the $300,000 units. So they will go."

Bell said condos are generally running between $140,000 and $700,000, and the more expensive ones are selling the best.

In general, the buyers of condos fall into two categories: seniors who no longer want the responsibility of a big home, and young people just starting their careers who want to make an investment in property but not have to worry about lawn care, snow removal and other things that go along with maintaining a home.

Dianne Bell and other real estate agents expect condos to remain hot properties. (CBC)

Many of the condos are new buildings being put up across the Hillsborough River from Charlottetown in Stratford. But some smaller-scale projects are also underway.

Developer Kevin Murphy took an old warehouse on Queen Street in downtown Charlottetown and converted it into eight condos. The mid-19th-century building has features hard to come by in new construction.

"We tried to keep some brick in some of the units. We kept the original elevator wheel — you'll see it in the lobby. In the loft apartments, you'll see the original beams that are still there," Murphy said.

"It gives you that historic feeling."

All the new condo construction doubled housing starts in Charlottetown this summer. The P.E.I. Real Estate Association expects demand to keep growing. As the recession ends, it's optimistic sales for the cheaper units will also come around.