Cost of rent in Whitehorse reaches new high in December

Rentin Whitehorse hasskyrocketed in 2013, reaching a new high in December.

The Yukon Bureau of Statistics released the Yukon Rent SurveyTuesday stating that the average cost of anapartmentin Whitehorseis now $900. That means the average rent has increased $250 since 2003.

The bureau said that thespike could be related to a lack of vacant rental units in the city.

Its been a very tight market. In fact, weve only been over four per cent vacancy rate once in the last five years six years since March 2008, said Gary Brown, Yukon Bureau of Statistics senior information officer.

The vacancy rate in Whitehorse inDecember 2013 was 3.1 per cent which isan increase of 1.6 per centcompared to the previous year.

The vacancy rate is higher forbachelor units and lower for one and two bedroom apartments, according to Brown.

The survey consists of multi-unit housing, does notrepresent the all forms of rental housing market in Yukon such as buildings with less than three rental units -- such as houses, suites and duplexes. Subsidized or government-owned housing, and illegalunits are also not included in the survey

The surveyis carried out inMarch,June, September, and December each year in Whitehorse, Watson Lake and DawsonCity. It began in Yukon in 1977.