VANCOUVER, B.C. — The cancellation of a $500-million luxury hotel and condominium project in downtown Vancouver is the latest in a string of troubled developments in Canada's most expensive real estate market which experts say is in a serious slump.
"Vancouver's market is already crashing, it's no longer a question," said Brian Ripley, CEO of consulting group Oakes Ripley & Associates Inc.
Ripley believes Vancouver will be one of the hardest hit in the current reversal of housing prices across Canada because its prices ran up the most and is now the least affordable city in the country.
The credit crunch and economic downturn are wreaking havoc in Vancouver's real estate market where sales are on a steep slide and prices are falling.