by Nancy Gardiner
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 19/97) - The Yellowknife Real Estate Board is trying to eliminate the "air of uncertainty" in the city and has already discussed it with Mayor Dave Lovell.

Now the board wants to meet with Yellowknife MLAs to better gauge economic development for the city.

"We want to take a proactive role to be better informed and help promote the city because we're used as a conduit for information here, for 1,000 people a year, selling $35 million to $40 million of real estate annually," says Rod Stirling, president of the Yellowknife Real Estate Board.

"So we feel we have to be responsible in what we say."

Market conditions in Yellowknife have changed drastically over the years. There are more houses on the market for sale -- about 300 of them, and 35 commercial, industrial or investment properties.

In addition, purchasers have become more cautious, better informed and on average, it's taking longer to sell a home, says Stirling. Normally, it takes 45 to 60 days to sell a home in Yellowknife.

In the boom times of the '80s for sellers, there wasn't a large supply of houses. "It was -- it looks good, I'll buy it -- because before, it was take it, or the next day it would be sold," says Stirling.

But now, purchasers are generally becoming more sophisticated -- they'll check on financing and have house inspections.

"They're more price conscious now, in terms of maintaining the home for energy efficiency, quality of construction, size and maintenance costs of utilities and energy savings."

While Alberta's housing market has generally picked up, Yellowknife's hasn't.

"I think we're probably the third-highest (house prices) in the country on average behind Vancouver and Toronto -- value-wise and cost- wise," says Stirling.

"We haven't had a lot of appreciation, but there's also pockets of expensive areas in other cities too, such as Victoria and Mount Royal, Que.," he says. Upkeep of homes in Yellowknife is costly too.

"On average there's more dual-working couples than in other areas and more opportunities to work here too. There's a high cost, but also a high standard of living here, too.

"I think it's more the norm that there's dual income," Stirling says. He pegged the average household wage for Yellowknife from between $58,000 to $63,000 annually.

"If people are looking to purchase, it's a good time. Financing term costs are low and have remained low for some time. And there's lots of selection."