Tsur Somerville: House Price

University Of B.C. Dept: Of course, even a levelling off of house values is big news in these parts. And it generally precipitates a fresh round of housing bubble speculation. Is this the massive downturn that so-called experts have been predicting for, well, years now? Everyone wants to know, according to Globe and Mail. Tsur Somerville, the oft-quoted real-estate economist from the University of B.C., doesn t see signs of a major real-estate story brewing. He actually holds a refreshing perspective on the local scene. He won t even go so far as to say that buyers hold the advantage at the moment, even though supply far exceeds demand and but the sales of those higher-end properties in 2011 also inflated median house prices and skewed the overall picture somewhat. Now that those multimillion-dollar homes aren t being gobbled up at the rate they once were, house price averages are taking a hit. While there are certainly those outside the city including economists at some of our more reputable financial institutions who think Vancouver is heading for an abrupt decline in house prices, those in the know out here don t seem to be too alarmed by what they re seeing. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.