In Edmonton, a house of that size and vintage would go on the market asking 350 to 500 thousand depending on the neighbourhood. It would actually sell for 100K less than that – if it sold. That’s still 2 to 3 times what it would have commanded 8 years ago, but the insane bubble of last spring has deflated.

Are those prices sustainable over the long term? Possibly in the lower mainland where there is a true scarcity of space and a historical desire for people to move there.

Here even in “oil rich” Alberta the average household income, before taxes, is 70K. When you match that up against a 240k asking price for a one bedroom condo in the boonies cheaply built with chipboard and vinyl siding and a lovely ground floor view of a parking lot… no. Either wages have to go way up, especially for the lower earners or house prices have to come down.

The really sad thing is that thanks to the sub prime mortgage idiocy probably all of our pensions depend on these really ordinary houses actually being worth 3- 4 times what they really should be.