The real estate market in Vancouver no longer at all - even remotely - represents the present or future expected economic activity in the surrounding area.
One of the core issues with real estate is that in an ideal state they are priced to reflect their surrounding conditions, many (if not most) have had their prices divorced from any foundational economic growth expectations. Real estate becomes priced on a benchmark of other real estate, not underlying industrial or commercial activity.
If Vancouver's real estate pricing reflected the surrounding economy there should be much cause for celebration - per capita income should be rising by several hundred percent, and the city's economy would be growing by double-digit percentages annually for some time to come!
