Last week the State Department of Labor released a report detailing trends in Alaska’s residential construction.  Building has fallen off statewide in recent years and housing prices have flat-lined.  But in Unalaska, the numbers don’t show dramatic changes. 

Home construction in the rest of the state tapered off around 2006 and tanked in 2009, following the national housing market meltdown.  The sample size for Unalaska isn’t huge, but it doesn’t show much of a response to those trends.  Three new houses went up in 2006, two in 2009 and five in 2010.

Statewide, average home value has declined recently, mostly because prices aren’t keeping up with inflation.  Because of Unalaska’s limited sample size and considerable year to year fluctuation, it’s hard to say whether home value has gone up or down here in recent years.

In 2006 the average sale price for a house in the community was $348,000, adjusted for inflation.  In 2010 it was $331,000, well above the state average of $282,000.

In the last five years, residents have built 20 new houses and sold 34 existing homes in Unalaska.