With a 71.3-per-cent rise in housing prices since 2000 and no new lots on the horizon, the city's land crunch problems are coming to a head.

Mike Racz, the president of the Yukon Real Estate Association, said this morning he is concerned to see that almost no new land is being made available by the government even though housing prices continue to skyrocket.

'It's concerning,' Racz said.

According to the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, the price of single-family residential homes has risen 12.2 per cent from the third quarter of 2005 to the third quarter of 2006.

The average price of a single-family home in Whitehorse now sits at $255,100.

The average price, bureau information states, does not include duplexes, condominiums nor mobile homes.

Since the third quarter of 2000, according to the bureau, prices have risen 73.1 per cent, 63.9 per cent after taking into account inflation, from $147,400 to the current average.

Between the third quarter of 2005 and the third quarter of 2006, price hikes for homes in Whitehorse have varied across the city.

The average price in Riverdale rose 6.4 per cent, from $210,900 to $224,000.

In Porter Creek, the average price of single houses jumped 14 per cent, from $227,900 to $259,800.

Granger saw the largest increase at 20.4 per cent with the average housing price skyrocketing from $245,000 to $295,900.

The average price of a single-family home in Copper Ridge jumped 11 per cent, from $229,600 to $254,800.

The average price of a country residential home in Whitehorse has jumped 10.7 per cent, from $278,500 to $308,300.

Real estate sales for all homes to date this year total $102.5 million.

In 2005, real estate sales totalled $152.2 million and in 2004 sales were a record-high $157.5 million.

Racz said with almost no new land scheduled to hit the market in the coming years, he believes prices will climb still higher and shut some Yukoners out of the market.

'I think it's going to be tough next year. I think the year after is going to be even worse.

'It will be tight for everybody. The contractors, the realtors and the public everybody. It will be even tighter for new people moving into town. It's going to be hard for them to find a place to live,' Racz said.

'We need proper planning. They need to do what they said they were going to do and keep a two-year supply of lots in the inventory, and right now we don't have that. It's a shame we've gotten to where we are.'

Racz said he hoped the city could look into building some new houses in existing subdivisions to help with the lot shortage.

'If the city could find suitable areas to develop in existing subdivisions, that would add to availability.'

Over the past year, the city has tried to present infill ideas in Riverdale and Porter Creek but met staunch opposition from residents in those areas.

The city also presented an idea for a subdivision of more than 200 lots in the Porter Creek greenbelt only later to find out the Yukon territorial government (YTG) had three separate plans for the very same area.

The YTG is still looking into the matter.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt confirmed this morning there isn't much coming up in terms of new land being made available to the public.

'Probably the earliest single-family (lots) would be coming in would be the year following next. That would be in Takhini North, but that wouldn't be very many,' Shewfelt said.

'We don't have a decision from cabinet on Porter Creek D yet.'

Shewfelt said even if the YTG made a decision on Porter Creek D, it's unlikely those lots could be made available until 2009.

'It would be impossible to get those lots on the market for 2007. It's unlikely we'd get those lots on the market by 2008.

'The situation is similar for Takhini North; 2008 would be optimistic.'

Shewfelt said he feels continued demand will depend on economic activity and interest rates.

Companies in the city continue to build, he added, and there are several mines scheduled to open.

'There's jobs coming,' he said.

Mayor Bev Buckway said this morning she is familiar with the land crunch situation, conceding there isn't much in the way of land that could be made available in the next few years.

'There's nothing; that's not a new scenario.

'It doesn't make a lot of people happy, that's for sure,' Buckway said.

Buckway said she is aware the availability of affordable housing is shrinking. The city has been unable to meet its policy of keeping a two-year supply of land available.

'The gap's widening between what's affordable and what's not.

'It's a planning issue. Making sure that we always have 200 lots in our inventory is something we've always tried to do. For a variety of issues, that didn't work,' she said.

The future of the Porter Creek greenbelt development planned by the city, Buckway added, is still in limbo and awaiting a decision by the YTG.

'We'd like to know where the government sits on that issue. That would be one of the things we'd like to know.'

The new land development protocol, the mayor added, could hopefully solve that problem in the future.

Prior to the protocol being signed by the YTG and the city, the government was responsible for designing and building subdivisions while the city was responsible for issuing permits.

Both levels of government had to go through rounds of public consultation.

Under the new protocol, the city is responsible for subdivision planning and approval and public consultation while the YTG will be responsible for construction.

There are some land investors in the city, Buckway added, who would benefit from the rising prices.