House prices have soared in the last few years in B.C. What will happen next - will they continue to rise, flatten, decrease or crash? These questions are on everyone's mind - whether you're in the market or no.
The overall consensus of industry professionals (according to the BC Real Estate Association, BCREA) is that the prices will continue to rise at least until the Olympics (2010).

This rise, however, is expected to continue at a much slower pace, compared to the last few years (prices have doubled in the last 6-7 years).

In 2007 the average price of home in the Greater Vancouver Regional District was $564K, compared to $615K in 2008 (first half). This is an increase of 9% with a projected yearly increase of 18% at this pace.

The prices continue to increase, despite the fact that this year there are more sellers than buyers on the market. According to BCREA's chief economist Cameron Muir, this year there is 25.4% more sellers than last year, and "...rising inventories are providing more choice for consumers and exerting less upward pressure on home prices".

Muir also commented that the high demand, which is still noticeable, can be attributed, mostly to people moving from other provinces as well as British Columbia's economy being on the rise.
In my opinion - this may be a cause of serious concern as the "economy being on the rise" is mostly due to construction which does create a pyramid or avalanche effect where more workers come to the province to build more homes while at the same time also depleting the housing inventory (as they do need a home to stay while here).

On the bright side, one of the Vancouver realtors commented that it is much easier to get in the market this year - not because it is cheaper but because there is less competition between buyers and no "bidding wars".This years houses are sold in 30 to 90 days, whereas last year it would be sold in a matter of days.
Most mortgage and real estate professionals agree that the rate of rise of real estate prices should slow down in the coming months as more and more buyer prefer to wait out and see what the remaining half of 2008 brings.