Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Northview Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, was formed in 1986 by former GNWT civil servants that eventually evolved into a publiclytraded company allowing individual investors to buy shares in real estate portfolios. Northview holds thousands of residential and commercial units in Yellowknife and Iqaluit. Sources vary on how much they own, but it's estimated to be between 50 to 80 percent of the rental market.
In 2018, 28 percent of Northview's operating income was derived in northern Canada. REITs are recognized as financialized landlords and the largest landlords for multifamily rental units across Canada with the most significant penetration into markets with weak rent control. In a recent study of tight rental markets like those in the North, it is stated that REITs do the minimum to maintain their buildings while charging higher rents because tenants are desperate. This leads to issues with mold, water damage, pest infestations, and all kinds of frustrations as people have no other choice.
On November 2nd, 2020, Northview Apartment REIT was purchased by two Toronto firms for $4.9 billion. The purchase was considered stable as 66 percent of their leases held in the territories were secured by government or creditrated corporations. Rent was increased across the board by $300, and with the control of so many units, the market prices continued to skyrocket in Yellowknife well beyond affordability.
In Yellowknife, nearly 35 percent of the entire housing stock was built before 1980, and another 45 percent was added during the '80s and '90s. With supply chains increasingly disrupted through the pandemic, the cost of construction materials and supplies required for housing construction and maintenance have continued to rise, driving up housing prices to unaffordable levels.
The average home price in Yellowknife rose to just below $486,000 in 2021, an alltime high, with average sale prices increasing by 22 percent year over year.
In 2018, the City of Yellowknife conducted a pointintime homelessness count and found that 338 people were experiencing homelessness in the city with a significant overrepresentation of Indigenous people, particularly children and youth.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.
Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 42 percent, or 142 of those enumerated, were age 24 or younger with 104 of those being children under the age of 18. Significantly, the count identified that 90 percent of the city's homeless identified as Indigenous compared to the city overall at 23 percent. A large portion of the homeless in Yellowknife are from other communities due in part to inadequate housing in those home communities.
The terrible state of our housing market means that for far too long residents, and in particular Indigenous residents, have had to choose between a roof over their heads or feeding their families; a choice that, in my opinion, is impossible to make and should be a source of deep shame for our government and nation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Applause
Thank you. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
