So everyone is asking, is NOW the time to buy? Well that depends on your situation. If you are selling your home and buying another you have currency in this market. If we drop another 10%, yes you can buy that house cheaper but you will sell for less as well. If you have the nerve you could sell now with a long closing and wait a few months if we hit bottom. BUT they dont ring a bell when we do. Generally you won't know where the bottom was till you are looking back at it. No one expects the smoke and mirrors escalation of the last 4-5 yrs to return anytime soon. So if you see the house that you absolutely want to have, think long term!! Unless you are buying to try and speculate and make a quick dollar- a little early for that..., prices today are good  for long term holders, or those who plan to sell  to rebuy ( currency again)

Personally, I like to have investments that I can touch and see rather than an online account that is dwindling.

Some further points:

For sellers the current list prices sometimes dont reflect the market. There are huge discrepancies where some areas are down and others haven't caught up. In alot of cases North Vancouver is now higher than West Vancouver!! Its a great time to shop on the North Shore, and in West Vancouver particularly. The recent sale of the lovely Dundarave 2 bedroom plus full basement cottage with 57 frontage and pool in the back yard for $850K is testimony to that! We sold a house in Chinatown  for more than that!!

Many buyers are looking at the tax assessent ( which is 2 yrs behind right now due to Gov't freezing of the assessment roll values and are offerring that or a little less.

Many incentives for home buyers as well to do a little fixing up. $5000 grant in addition to others already out there to promote energy efficiency. And also a 15% up to $1350 max rebate for any type of reno, landscape, painting etc...

Excellent deals on older post and beams that have  a classic west coast feel but need some updating, and also large spec homes that were built when values and labour were higher, and now  builders need these things OFF their books.

Enough  for today, happy shopping!

kim