Or in the entire territory of Nunavut, for that matter.

John Matthews is the only licensed real estate agent in Nunavut. - Chris Woodall/NNSL photo

But although Matthews, who is also the town mayor, may well have staked out a small corner of salesman's heaven, it comes with a price.

The time, paperwork and bureaucracy involved with closing a deal, for one thing, would leave a Toronto counterpart aghast.

"It is significant, normally six to eight weeks to complete all of the documents from the time the buyer and seller have agreed on a deal."

One reason is that most of the transactions in Iqaluit involve lease-hold titles.

"That complicates things. The churches or the Bay may have fee-simple title but by and large it is all lease-hold.

"What that means is that documents first go to the city to be transferred, because the city holds the lease on behalf of the commissioner."

Despite his direct line to city hall, that can still take a week or two, he said.

The documents then go to the land titles office, then to the lawyers involved, usually located in either Yellowknife or Ontario.

That's because there is currently no private-practice lawyer in Iqaluit willing to do conveyancing.

"We could sure use one," sighs Matthews.

The process was even more complicated until about two weeks ago.

Prior to a change then in the land titles office, documents went from the city to the lawyers for review, then to land titles, then back to the lawyers for sign-off.

It could have been even worse, said Mathews, if the Nunavut land titles office was located in Gjoa Haven, as was initially planned when the territory was formed.

"That would have been a disaster. Happily the premier was a practising lawyer and realized the difficulties that would impose. He was instrumental in having it located here in Iqaluit."

Even so, real estate transaction costs are typically "up to 10 times higher" than those in the South, said Matthews.

"By the time you add couriers, phone, fax and so on to the legal and other transaction fees involved, it is easily that."

Matthews switched from teaching to real estate and property management about ten years ago.

"I saw an opportunity because no-one else was doing it."

He took the real estate licensing course by correspondence, then served as his own apprentice.

"That was a little unusual, but there was no other real estate company in town that I could apprentice with. They waived that requirement."

After some lean early years, Matthews guesses that he now handles about half of Iqaluit's real estate transactions. The other sales are private deals. His key to success? "I keep my commission very low, about half of what realtors in the South charge. I don't think people here would use a realtor otherwise."