Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 22/02) - It's hunting season in the Yellowknife real estate world, but the prey has changed.

Realtors no longer have buyers in their sights, they're now aiming at homeowners.

Don't think you want to peg a "for sale" sign in front of your home? You may want to think again because a relator might just come by and ask you to sell.

Sales of any type is about tactics, strategies, marketing -- and just plain old-fashioned people skills and reputation-building. For those selling homes, a market where there are sometimes fewer listings than realtors puts all of those abilities under the microscope.

In the past six months, a Yellowknife housing pinch -- some call it a crisis -- meant the number of available homes plummeted. An energetic summer construction schedule is changing that, slowly thawing out winter's housing freeze.

But the housing market is still nothing like it was several years ago.

Not enough to go around

"It went from having 300 listings with 30 purchasers to 30 listings and 300 purchasers in a short period of time," said James Clark, who is with Homelife Sunrise Real Estate.

In fact, the shortage in listings has grown so acute that it meant the December, 2001, cancellation of the Yellowknife real estate guide, published by the 11 city realtors.

"We've cancelled the real estate guide because we were starting to advertise colouring contests for kids, not real estate," said Clark.

Kay Da Corte, who works with Coldwell Banker, said not too long ago it was normal to have 75 listings on the realtors' multiple listing service. In the past six months, there were times when the MLS was down to five or six listings, she said.

"All of a sudden there just wasn't enough to go around," she said.

Rising prices

This is what realtors call a vendor's market.

"Just about any listing that comes up now, generally it's sold before the ink is even dry," said Clark.

It also means price boosts. Some realtors say they have seen a 15-20 per cent rise in home costs. Clark sold a property in May 1999 for $188,000. Several weeks ago, he sold it again, this time for $259,900.

A vendor's market adds a peculiar flush to the business of real estate. For one, it's difficult to obtain listings. With a home-greedy market ready to pounce on anything that becomes available, sellers see an opportunity to make a couple extra bucks by bypassing realtors altogether.

Looking for customers

So not only are fewer homes moving, but realtors are getting less of the action.

"It's challenging because you're competing with vendors who are trying to sell houses on their own," said Century 21's Willy Chidowe. "So you've got to give them a reason for why they should use you."

This is where intangibles like reputation, time in the business and plain old word-of-mouth become important, said Chidowe. It can also mean being aggressive.

"There are times when you've got buyers who are looking for something really specific, but you might not have it," he said. "So you try and search for the property. That might mean going to someone who has no intention of selling and asking them."

It can also mean throwing out the real estate rule book. Normally, if a seller goes to one relator, the listing will appear on the MLS, which is available to all of the other realtors. When the sale is made, the listing relator gets half of the commission.

But, said Clark, in tight markets realtors start looking to score the entire commission.

"A lot of the listings are now exclusive as opposed to the MLS situation. I think that's because the relator wants to double up on both ends -- both list it and sell it," he said.

For the realtors, a dry supply also means personal change. Since paycheques are dependent on sales, issues like personal budgeting become important.

And there are increased psychological demands as well. Since real estate is primarily about people, realtors are often stuck in a bind.

"It's actually very very difficult in this situation," said Coldwell Banker's Ken Pearman. "You have two or three people who want a house. One ends up with it and the other two are unhappy. It's very difficult, believe it or not."

Yellowknife has not been friendly to realtors in the past years. Half a decade ago, the market was crammed with companies like Re/Max and Global Real Estate. At that point, there were 28 realtors in town.

Now there are 11 left. Many are predicting that house prices will plateau for at least the rest of this year, if not for another two years.

Though prices may stay high, they are also taking heart that supply will pick up. Construction is beginning on several hundred housing units in the city. As those come online, realtors will be able to breathe a little easier as the supply straitjacket gets increasingly looser.

That is, until the market is jolted again. The current housing shortage was caused in part by the hundreds of people heading north for diamonds. Not too far in the future, some other unforeseen circumstance could lead to another dramatic change to the northern landscape.

For realtors, it's all part of the Yellowknife ball game.

"Mining cities are like that," said Clark. "They're up and down like a ping pong ball."