My prediction for the market this year is that it will remain flat or decrease slightly. If we can rely on history as our guide, downturns in the real estate market are long lived. Look at the last 30 years. The market in 1980 was overheated. It crashed in 1981-1982. It remained in the tank until 1988. Prices doubled between 1989 and 1990.  In other words, the market was in a bit of a coma for roughly 6-7 years from 1981-1982 to 1988. Home sales were buoyant until 1994-1995. Again, in that period of time we saw prices more than double, we saw scads of new product being built, we saw multiple offers and bidding wars. It only lasts so long though. In 1995 it was like someone turned out the lights. Prices declined steeply (10%) in both 1995 and 1998. Things didn’t turn around again for another, you guessed it, 6-7 years. In May 2001 the BC Liberals took office in BC and I have to tell you, It was like someone turned the lights on again. I’m not saying that it was all their doing.  I do believe, however, that people began to have confidence that things were going to be OK. In reality it was the beginning of a long upswing in the economy in general. Price increases really took hold in the spring of 2002 when interest rates dipped substantially. So 2001-2002 to 2008 is 6-7 years. I’ve been waiting for the market to stall. At the beginning of 2008 there was a sense of waiting for the other shoe to fall. It really doesn’t matter what the specific reasons for a market correction are. In 1981 it was skyrocketing interest rates. In 1995 it was rising (not skyrocketing) interest rates. In 2008 it’s been a global meltdown. Whatever the reason it seems that the market stays flat for 6-7 years and then increases for 6-7 years. I’ve been selling real estate since 1987 so I’ve personally seen a lot of it.