New housing starts expected to be frenetic through 2012

City hall is predicting the construction of 300 new housing units of all types will begin this year.

City hall is predicting the construction of 300 new housing units of all types will begin this year.

City planner Mike Gau said Thursday it’s difficult to predict how many units will be ready for the market in the next 11 months. He suspects some of the single-detached houses or duplexes will be completed.

Through discussions with contractors and developers, it’s expected there will be eight new condos and five townhouse projects, he said.

Gau said there are the 20 single-family or duplex infill lots sold in the city’s land lottery last fall which are ready for development. There are another nine lots sold and ready to go in the Ingram subdivision and 17 in Takhini North.

In a press release issued by the city this week, Gau acknowledges the lack of residential lots to meet growing demand has pushed up the cost of housing.

He said it’s difficult to say whether the city is catching up with the appetite for multi-housing units, or what effect this year’s condo and townhouse developments will have on demand.

Developers, he pointed out, are still pre-selling units.

“We are definitely short of single-family housing,” he said. “I would say we are quite a ways behind in single-family but that first phase of Whistle Bend should provide a significant supply for builders to get into.”

The city’s forecast of 300 new units comes as the record year of 2011 saw permits and approvals issued for the construction of 440 units in Whitehorse: 286 multi-family and 154 single-family or duplex units.

How many of the 440 units hit the market last year, and how many will be ready for sale this year, was not available this morning.

City records show the total value of residential construction permitted or approved last year blasted into uncharted heights, hitting $52.4 million, compared to $27.5 million in 2010. Multi-family developments led the climb.

The value of single-family home construction permitted in 2011 was $26.2 million, up 26 per cent from $20.8 million in 2010.

Multi-family construction last year, however, hit $26.2 million, up a staggering 300 per cent from the $6.7 million permitted in 2010.

Only one other time did the value of all residential construction break the $30-million mark – $30.7 million in 2008.

Gau said this year’s construction forecast does not include the proposed subdivision development at the former McKenzie RV Park.

The project is, however, working its way through the approval process, which requires the blessing of city council.

So far, there’s been no indication of any resistance among council members, and the developers have indicated their intention to get going this spring.

Available Yukon government statistics to the end of September 2011 indicate the value of real estate transactions in Whitehorse for June, July and September was $69.5 million, down slightly from $69.9 million in the third quarter of 2010.

The average single-family home in Whitehorse sold last summer for $455,700, with country residential homes fetching the highest average price of $498,500 while the lowest average of $335,400 was recorded downtown.

According to the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, the average price of homes in the summer of 2005 was $228,300, or half of what it was last summer.

Discounting 12.1 per cent of inflation over the six years, the average house price in Whitehorse jumped 88.3 per cent between 2005 and 2011, according to the bureau.

Mayor Bev Buckway said in this week’s press release the city’s new growth strategy, which includes infill development and the encouragement of basement and garden suites, should help the city meet demand for housing.

Pat Molloy of the territorial Department of Community Services said this morning the first phase of Whistle Bend is scheduled for completion this year.

The first phase includes 88 single-family lots, 10 duplex lots, 10 multi-family and one commercial lot.

“If there is no technical difficulties in completing the numerous contracts underway, and interconnecting the work, there is the possibility of having the first lots available in July,” Molloy said. “There are no guarantees on that, but the remainder of the lots are expected to be available for sale in October.

“Things are coming together.”

Molloy emphasized, however, that there are several subcontracts that need to come together, such as the completion of the new Valleyview water reservoir, the completion of a pumphouse and the water main down Range Road.

There are, however, no red flags at this point, he said.

“We have everything lined up.”