The "so-called experts" are wrong and the bubble isn't about to burst. This according to Sotheby's CEO and president Ross McCredie.
"The so-called experts have been wrong for about seven years straight," McCredie told The Huffington Post B.C. "Anybody who jumped out of the market at any point in the last couple of years, can't get in any cheaper than when they sold; in fact, it's gone up on them.
On Wednesday, Sotheby's International Realty Canada released its 2013 Year-End Top-Tier Real Estate Report, and said Vancouver's luxury home market (properties valued over $4 million) had sales increase 48 per cent in 2013 over a "sluggish" 2012.
At the end of 2013, sales in Vancouver's detached home market "flourished". Sales of homes over $1 million increased 24 per cent over the same period the year prior.
Over all 12 months of 2013, sales of properties worth over $1 million totalled 2,505 homes, an increase of 19 per cent.
The sales are a concrete contrast to rumours that Vancouver's housing market was teetering and ready to pop.
"In the last couple of years, we've had a lot of clients come to us and say, 'Jeez, the Vancouver market is over-inflated. I want to sell my home and when the market corrects I'll jump back into the market,'" McCredie also told the Huff Post B.C. "And that's a scary proposition, because if you want to stay in the market and time the market, it's a difficult thing to do."
From Sotheby's report:
"2013 proved to be a year that defied many analyst predictions. We expect to see continued growth in western Canada's high-end housing market, specifically in attached and single family homes in Vancouver and Calgary. Entering 2014 we also anticipate Toronto maintaining its current upward sales trajectory."