Citizens’ of Vancouver awoke today to the realization that their most prized assets maybe reaching a tipping point and not one invoked by the drunken swaying of Canucks fans. Mark Carney, in a talk yesterday (June 16, 2011), gave some thinly veiled, ominous warnings to the Canadian home-buyer about the potential for the existence of a bubble in the Vancouver market. Although Mr. Carney avoided use of the dreaded b-word he suggested the Vancouver market has become increasingly similar to a “financial asset market” with favourable borrowing conditions lending themselves to a market fed by fear and greed. With recent reports suggesting the Vancouver market lies third behind only Hong Kong and Sydney on the hierarchy of over-inflated property values and the average home in Vancouver now priced at 11.5 times the average household income levels it is hardly surprising Carney opted to speak out. Continue reading →