Iqaluit (Jun 19/06) - With a vacancy rate of zero, Iqaluit, along with the petroleum boomtown of Fort McMurray, Ala., is the tightest housing market in the country.

That's according to a housing overview completed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - the first study of its kind for Nunavut's capital according to the group.

Total Iqaluit housing stock: 2,434 units. Per cent rented: 63 Per cent owned: 37 Average apartment rent: $2,091/month (highest in Canada) Average sale-price of single-family home: $337,993.

The study's author says the overview confirms what most residents already know: plenty of available jobs and a high birth rate are driving demand among Iqaluit's booming population.

"The population is increasing and there's just not enough housing to keep up with it," said Lyndsey Krepela, a market analyst with the housing corporation.

Iqaluit's population grew by 1,000 people in the last five years, pushing apartment rents close to $2,100 per month and resale costs to more than $330,000.

The doesn't give advice to government about what to do about the high price of shelter in Iqaluit, said Richard Goatcher, another market analyst.

"We're the observers," he said, adding that it's hard to tell which direction costs will head as the territorial government gets out of the business of subsidized staff housing.

The president of the Nunavut Housing Corporation said there's no clear picture yet of where costs are headed.

"The report is a snapshot in time," Peter Scott said. But he said the information will be used to help tailor future housing policies.

"That survey gives us a finger on the pulse," said Michelle Bertol, the city's director of planning and lands. The information won't change the way the city apportions lots, it just confirms the high level of demand city planners expected.

Bertol said a total of 79 units will be built over the next year, mostly in the form of apartments and row houses, though Bertol expects a handful of single-family homes to go up as well.