The real estate market continues to break records in the Yukon.
New statistics show that the total value of all real estate transactions in January 2012 through March 2012 hit over $50 million, more than the first quarter of any other year.
In fact, the value was 40 per cent higher than the previous record, set in 2011.
“In my mind, it’s a reflection that the market is alive and healthy in the Yukon,” said Val Smith, president of the Yukon Real Estate Association.
The average price for a single house in the Yukon peaked in the third quarter of 2011 at about $456,000. It has fallen since then.
In the first quarter of 2012, an average home cost around $418,000.
The falling prices are a healthy and natural correction to a market where house prices were higher than what people could afford to pay, said Smith.
Yukon real estate prices, which have nearly doubled in seven years, reflect both the scarcity of available housing, and stimulus measures that made it easier to get a mortgage, Smith said.
Now, the lending requirements look more like what Smith has been used to for most of the 28 years she has been practising real estate in the territory, and that’s a good thing, she said.
And now there are more homes, including more affordable homes, and more lots coming on the market.
Higher-end residences continue to be the slowest to move on the market, and Smith would not be surprised to see the average house price continue to fall, she said.
However, Smith also urged caution in interpreting the statistics.
In a small market like the Yukon, a small number of high-end transactions can have a significant effect on the average, said Smith.
Also, the average house-price index does not include condos, duplexes and mobile homes, all of which form a significant part of the Yukon market.
The condo market is where the Yukon has seen the most significant growth in recent years, said Smith.
In the first quarter of 2012, 54 condos were sold compared with 45 single houses.
The average selling price for a condo was $277,000.
The full report is available on the Yukon Bureau of Statistics website.
Contact Jacqueline Ronson at
jronson@yukon-news.com