Whitehorse short of mid-priced homes

Homebuyers hoping to pay $200,000 to $400,000 for a house in Whitehorse may be out of luck, as the availability of homes in that mid-price range is near an all-time low.

Real estate agents say there are fewer than 10 mid-priced homes in the Whitehorse market, and some agents report having more than 10 families waiting for homes to open up in that price bracket.

"Currently, our inventory for houses for sale is probably at a near-record low. That means there's very little for sale," Terry Bergen of Redwood Realty told CBC News.

"If that number persists, then that will put great pressure on prices to go up."

The shortage of houses in the $200,000 to $400,000 range comes as Whitehorse's population continues to grow.

Strong opposition

The Yukon Real Estate Association has been lobbying the city for four years to free up new residential lots, but Mayor Bev Buckway said necessary but often lengthy procedures such as land lotteries and public consultations have made it difficult to make land available for development.

"We seem to have such strong opposition to everything that we try to move forward … when we try to develop anything," Buckway said.

The next new residential subdivisions are slated to open for development at least three years from now, and Bergen warned that overall home prices will keep rising in the meantime.

"Are we heading for Fort McMurray? I don't know," Bergen said, referring to the dramatic boom in the Alberta oilsands centre. "But down there, the average house is $700,000 [to] $800,000."

Potential homeowners in Whitehorse can only hope the market doesn't come close to that level, or the waiting list for mid-range housing will only continue to get longer.