Well, here it is once again a headline just begging for some attention, or at least a guy trying to get fis five minutes of fame! It would seem that if the media isn't reporting a complete real estate meltdown, then economists are chucking more fuel onto the fire they are creating amongst those that own real estate. Canwest News Service published an article which quotes Merrill Lynch Canada economist David Wolf as saying:
" It may just be a matter of time before the Canadian housing market tanks like the U.S. market did..." he then goes on to warn " that Canadian households are now nearly as overextended as households in the U.S., and even more so than those in Britain, prior to the bursting of the housing market bubbles in those countries."
"What worries us is that Canadian households have been running a larger financial deficit than households in either the U.S. or the U.K.," Wolf said in a commentary, noting that in 2007 Canadian household net borrowing amounted to 6.3 per cent of disposable income, which was higher than in Britain and not far off the seven per cent peak in the U.S. in 2005, prior to the bursting of that country's housing bubble.
WOW! I think I am going to stop typing and down a bottle of 
before I can carry on here! It is safe to say that the many segments on the Canadian Real Estate Market have begun to see declines in sales and increases in inventories. To be very honest with you I am getting very tired and leery of such articles being published and assumed as "gospel truth" which ultimately leads to home buyers being scared to death! We are no where in the same league of financial trouble as our neighbours to the south are currently enduring. Canadian lending practices and the qualifications that are required of Buyers, simply cannot be compared to the US Mortgage and Lenders fiasco.
I was relieved to read Prime Minister Stephen Harper's outright rebuke of David Wolf's claims! I would be curious to know if Mr Wolf has liquidated all his real estate holdings and is currently renting in preparation of this so called "Real Estate Meltdown?!?" If not, leading by example would be my thoughts on this economist's predictions!
Putting this in perspective to the local real estate market, our house prices now match where we were at this time last year. Basically, home values increased by 10% this past Spring and have now come down by the same percentage heading into the Fall. Kelowna real estate values are not rising by any means, but they also are not plummeting as some may want you to believe. For more real estate related reports and statistics for the Central Okanagan go to: OMREB.com