Yep - you guys have only been saying the same thing every January for the last 8 years. Congrats on your predictive abilities.
:) true dat.. I've been owning in the market since the 90's but a divorce and some shitty life issues caused me to leave the market with not much of anything in 2003. In summer 2005 I bought a 30 year old 3 bedroom 1800 square foot townhouse in Port Moody for $210,000 with very little down. Sold it in summer 2010 for 370,000 and bought a 20 year old 2400 square foot house on just under quarter acre in Mission for $350,000. Took $10,000 of the equity in the sale and suited the basement(it didnt need much to do that, just a separate entry and a basic kitchen put in) which upped the value of the house post purchase by around $25,000 (according to couple realtor buds of mine).
My costs in mortgage, strata, taxes, selling costs and expenses for the 7 and half years to date is about $180,000
Now there's a 6 figure equity cushion in the current house, and the suite rental brings the monthly expenses to own the 2400 square foot house down to about $1300.00 per month. The mortgage was ported so its getting into the part where principle is going down quite quickly (I make payments twice a month to help this as well) And Mission has the chill outdoor lifestyle I like.
Had I stayed renting from 2005 to the present I don't think I'd be near in the position I'm in now. Getting into the market and staying in past the peak seems like the right choice.