It is a first in Saskatchewan: private homes for sale on reserve land.

A Saskatoon development company has started building on the Whitecap Dakota First Nation.

The homes are 12-hundred square feet and their natural setting close to the city is attracting prospective buyers.

The Valley River Development Corp is building 10 homes in a subdivision on the reserve. For each property they have bought a 99-year lease from the band. The lease is transferable to the buyer and renewable at any time. This way the band can create an open housing market on the reserve without surrendering the land back to the federal government.

The band opted out of sections of the Indian Act and developed its own land code. Chief Darcy Bear says this enabled the band to move at the speed of business and lay down legal frameworks that made investors feel confident in taking on projects there.

Since the band initiated the land code, self-governance, and opened their doors to businesses, the reserve has gone from a 70 percent unemployment rate to a 4.2 percent unemployment,

With prosperity comes a low crime rate and more investment in infrastructure, all of which makes the community more attractive as a place to live. Bear says the new homes being built are a good investment property for landlords because the community's economy has left rental properties in high demand.

The homes are for sale on the open market to anyone and two of them have sold already.

Around five homes will be finished by December with the rest done in the spring of 2015.