Homes are selling for more than ever before in the Yukon and building has all but stalled.

The result: when housing is needed most as the population expands, it is becoming unaffordable for many Yukon residents and southerners looking to relocate here.

Following major growth in the mining and construction sectors, the Yukon is currently witnessing a population boom.

In 2009, the population was 34,157, with 25,690 living in Whitehorse.

Last year, the territory gained 510 new residents, bringing numbers to 34,667, with 614 more people living in Whitehorse. Lesser growth was felt in Burwash, Carcross, Dawson City, Carmacks, Destruction Bay and Tagish and it is a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

At the same time, real estate costs have soared to unprecedented levels.

The price of an average home in Whitehorse has spiralled to $427,600, and record-setting prices are being seen across the territory, reports the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.

Between April and June of this year, the total sale value of properties in the Yukon reached $73.9 million, a record high for second-quarter growth.

And prices have had little bearing on new home development.

This year, just 76 single-family homes were sold in Whitehorse, grossing just $32.5 million, the lowest recorded number of sales since 1995.

As a reflection of high prices, condominiums and multi-family home sales rose during that period, contributing $15 million in sales, with a record 56 units sold this year.

"It's all to do with supply and demand,” Mike Racz, the president of the Yukon Real Estate Association, said today.

"Right now, there are only multi-family homes available because it has been economically viable to build condos downtown (Whitehorse),” he said.

"For instance, you buy a lot for $250,000 and put 20-unit condo developments down, the lot price per unit increases greatly. There just isn't the same level of investment in single-family housing.”

Though development has benefited some, specifically some younger families from urban areas, it is far from a solution to the growing population's need for housing.

"Many people move up here because they like the idea of space,” said Racz.

"The city is in a difficult situation because they hope to give people that space, but they still have to provide enough housing with the land we have available.”

It is a situation that is beginning to take its toll on all segments of society.

"Housing is only one part of what makes up quality of living in a community, but it's a huge part,” said Bill Thomas, the chair of the Housing Task Force of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition.

"We have some of the highest wages in the country. Professional people want to be here and they are encouraged by things like job fairs, but they are not told about housing.

"Though many may even have the means to purchase a home here and get onto the property ladder, there just isn't enough available to them, and they may choose not to relocate as a result.”

The most obvious effects though, he added, are on the homeless, hard-to-house and working poor, who in large part simply cannot afford to rent in a community with such high property values.

Though the housing situation in the Yukon is dire, it's a trend being felt in resource towns from Kirkland Lake, Ont. to Yellowknife.

"This type of housing situation is happening in any small community going through an economic upturn,” said Thomas.

"It's a situation that happens whenever a community with low or negative growth suddenly, because of increases in resource revenue, becomes a destination for workers. It just takes time to build the necessary housing.”

It's clear that new solutions are needed, specifically opening up new lots for development in the city, said Thomas.

Its a platform the NDP, Liberals and governing Yukon Party have all adopted as a major priority in the Oct. 11 territorial election and is likely to become one of the most immediate challenges to whichever party forms the next government.

"We have to look at alternative ways to house people. They are out there, but so far, Whitehorse and the Yukon have been behind,” said Thomas.