The market goes up and down. My wife and I found the bottom of the market in 1982 and 1990 were great times to buy. The only problem was that we didn't know whether to laugh or cry when Realtors waved pre-crash BC Assessment Authority Printouts trying to prove that homes should still go for top of the bubble prices. We did feel sorry for builders who had spent more on land and construction costs than they would get any time soon for the home they had just built.

When we bought our first home in 1982/March you only needed one hand to count the number of homes that were sold in all of Greater Victoria that month.

One problem that can show up when the bubble is about to burst is chains of "Subject To" sales. OK, I will buy your home at your inflated price, if I can sell my old house at a similarly inflated price. When the market stalls and homes stop selling the time limits expire and the entire chain falls apart.