Local home prices remain higher than last year despite a slight downturn in sales, according to Terry Bergen, president of the Yukon Real Estate Association.

"But at this point, it's more of a seasonal slowdown, which we haven't had in the last couple of years because the market was so heated," he said in an interview this week.

"But normally, we have a spring market and a fall market, and there's lulls in between."

According to Bergen, real estate prices rose 15 to 20 per cent in the first eight months of last year but dropped slightly in the last quarter.

"But they're still 10 per cent higher than they were a year ago, and in some cases more," he added. "And there's still a strong demand but there's more (properties) available right now so there's not the real urgency there was two or three years ago."

During that period, if prospective buyers offered less than the asking price, there was a good chance the seller would not accept, said Bergen.

This atmosphere tended to favour sellers, who would often benefit from minor bidding wars between buyers.

"It wasn't uncommon to get five per cent above the list price," said Bergen.

An agent at Coldwell Banker, Bergen said the firm is experiencing double the listings than in previous years.

"And our sales are the same, or slightly less, so that means inventory is building ... there's more selection and less urgency to make a decision, so people aren't making multiple offers and driving the prices up," he said.

Entry-level buyers remain the largest demographic of real estate customers, however, as the average price of a single-detached unit is upwards of $300,000, it's difficult for young people to purchase their first home.

While the federal government's ban on 40-year mortgages with no down payments will come into effect Oct. 15, banks have recently increased the personal debt servicing ratio from 42 to 45 per cent.

"Basically, they're saying, 'We'll let your payments be a little higher but you need to show a certain amount of savings before we'll insure your mortgage,'" said Bergen. "But obviously, the higher prices go, the more people you shut out from being able to purchase."

Witness the boom of up-market homes, many in country residential areas, some of which are priced well above $400,000.

However, Bergen said servicing such lots with electricity and water supply adds to the cost of developing, or buying in those areas, rather than being a direct reflection of the overall increase in the region's real estate values.

But with properties for single-detached units all but snapped up and in various stages of development, particularly downtown, Bergen said, home prices could spike even higher.

"After this fall, we're out (of new single-detached properties) and we'll see the effect of that this fall and next spring," predicted Bergen. "We could really see the prices escalate, and even more people will be shut out."

Ross Findlater, co-chair of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, said Thursday that inflated home values continue to keep low-income families out of the home ownership club.

"The people that are at the lowest end of the scale income-wise in the Yukon couldn't ever consider purchasing (a home) and are really struggling with the current rental costs," said Findlater. He advocates the federal government taking back some public housing responsibilities it devolved to provinces and territories more than a decade ago.

Citing a June 2008 Senate committee report called Beyond Free: Halting Rural Poverty, Findlater said many of the recommendations relate "directly to the provision of affordable housing in the North."

"(The committee) is recommending the federal government get back into dealing with public housing ... they used to work co-operatively with provinces and territories but once they pulled out, the provinces and territories fell like a house of cards," he said.

"So there's been a huge gap growing in Canada."

Findlater suggests partnership arrangements between non-profit organizations, public and aboriginal governments and the private sector as a means to addressing the issue.

Until that happens in the Yukon, he says potential home buyers will remain at the mercy of the marketplace.

"The only encouraging thing that we're hearing is the peak has been reached or passed in some of the hotter southern markets," said Findlater.

"Some house prices are beginning to drop so that, eventually, may have a positive impact nationwide."